Holes
by mellowenglishgal
Summary: Stella is under the curse. Zigzag is the boy upstairs. Lump is kind, Squid is protective, Zero is nobody, still. Stella and Zero become friends, same plot minor twists. StellaXZigzag. Three different endings. Completed! YAY!
1. Chapter 1

There was once a lake at Camp Green Lake, a town too. The largest lake in Texas. Now the land was miles and miles of desert, after a hundred years of drought. The town shrivelled up with the lake, and the people too. At Green Lake during the summer, the daytime temperature hovers around ninety-five degrees in the shade, if you can find any. Out on the lake, scorpions and rattlesnakes find shade under rocks and in the holes the campers dig daily.

Desert heat, no water, scorpions and rattlesnakes: Why would anyone go to Camp Green Lake? Most campers weren't given a choice. Camp Green Lake was a correctional facility for criminal youths. Stella had been given a choice: "There is currently an opening at Camp Green Lake juvenile correction camp," the judge had said. "I _could _send you to jail, and not lose a night of sleep over you," her mother had been very upset when the judge said that, "or you can go to Camp Green Lake. Which do you prefer?" Her mother asked if the judge would allow them time to think about it. He advised choosing quickly; "Openings at Camp Green Lake don't last long." Stella had never been to camp.

Stella Hargrove was the only passenger on the bus to Camp Green Lake, not including the driver and the guard. The guard sat next to the driver, a rifle on his lap. Stella sat about ten rows back, handcuffed to the rail of the seat in front. Her backpack lay on the seat beside her, filled with a toothbrush, toothpaste, a stationery set and some of her favourite books. She had promised to write her mother at least once a week. The judge had advised taking a hat and sunglasses, and Stella could see why when the bus left 'civilisation' and began the long, unpaved and dusty road to the 'lake'.

Stella looked out the window. There wasn't much to see but fields of hay and cotton. She was on a long bus ride to nowhere. And the bus wasn't air-conditioned, and the hot, heavy air was as stifling as the handcuffs.

Stella and her mother and grandmother had pretended she was going to a summer camp, like the ones the richer children's parents could afford to send their children to, with daily activities and campfires to tell ghost-stories around. When she was younger, Stella used to play with her dolls instead of friends. Stella didn't have any friends at home. All the kids in her junior class thought she was odd because she had no father and lived with her grandmother in a two-bedroom apartment in the not-so-nice neighbourhood of town, while all the others lived in million-dollar mansions and already drove big SUVs and Mercedes. They teased her about being poor, and about the puppy-fat that never seemed to drop off her arms and stomach at puberty. _Maybe I'll make some friends here_, Stella thought hopefully.

Stella was arrested the day a group of boys in a Hummer had stopped by the road and thrown their 7-11 slushies over her from the windows, driving off laughing loudly. Stella sighed and looked at the guard, wondering if he had fallen asleep. He wore mirrored sunglasses, so she couldn't see his eyes.

Stella wasn't a bad girl. She hadn't committed the crime she had been accused and sentenced for. She had been in the wrong place at the wrong time. It was all because of her no-good-dirty-rotten-money-stealing-great-great-grandmother. She smiled. It was a family joke, passed down from her great-grandmother. Whenever things went wrong, and they went wrong a lot, it always felt good to have someone else to blame. Supposedly the first Hargrove, Sonja, had stolen money from a gypsy, and she put a curse on her and all her descendants. Stella would have liked to believe in magic. She certainly didn't believe in luck; her family had a legacy for bad luck.

Stella stared out of the window, daydreaming, repeating the verse her grandmother used to sing in her hoarse old voice;

"If only, if only," the woodpecker sighs,

"The bark on the trees was as soft as the skies."

While the wolf waits below, hungry and lonely,

He cries to the moon,

"If only, if only."

It was the song her grandmother's mother used to sing to her. It was about the only thing her family had to its name. That and the legacy for bad luck.

The bus hit a bump, making Stella even more uncomfortable, and the guard sat up, instantly alert.

Stella's mother was an inventor. To be an inventor, you need three things; intelligence, perseverance, and just a little bit of luck, the good kind. Stella's mother was smart and had a lot, if not too much, perseverance. Once an idea came into her head, which was often, she would not rest until she had tried every conceivable experiment. Every time an experiment failed, Stella could hear her mother cursing her no-good-money-stealing-great-grandmother. Stella's great-grandmother, not Sonja, Sonja's daughter, was the first Stella Hargrove. Our Stella is Stella Hargrove II. Each woman from the Hargrove line was named with an S. Sonja, Stella, Sarah, Sandy, Stella. And each woman before Stella II had the unfortunate circumstance of losing their husbands. Sonja Corvin, her maiden name, married a man named Hargrove, with the stolen money of the gypsy as a considerable dowry. They had moved to America, where they had their only child and daughter Stella. The first Stella's husband was killed, leaving her with their young daughter Sarah and little else. Sarah grew up and fell in love with a young man, who gave her Sandra, or Sandy, out of wedlock, which even in that time was quite unacceptable. Sandy, Stella II's mother, was a widow. Stella's father had died several years ago in a car accident. Stella was an only child, as every Hargrove woman had been before her. They all had something else in common too; each Hargrove remained hopeful. As Stella's mother said, "I learn from failure." It was part of the curse: always remaining hopeful. If they weren't always hopeful then it wouldn't hurt so much every time their hopes were crushed.

"Not every Hargrove lady did bad for herself," Stella's father once pointed out, whenever his wife and daughter became so discouraged that they actually started to believe in the curse. Stella's great-grandmother, the first Stella, had married exceedingly well for someone of such low situation and lived in some grandeur. But at such times of hopelessness Stella's father neglected to mention what befell Stella Hargrove I. Her stagecoach was robbed by the outlaw Kissin' Kate Barlow when she was moving with her husband and young daughter from New York to California, and consequently lost their entire fortune in the stock market, and her husband. He was kissed. Kissin' Kate Barlow only kissed the men she killed.

If it weren't for that, Stella's family would be living in a California mansion, not a two-bedroom apartment in the only bad part of town that smelled of foot-odour. _If only, if only_…

The apartment smelled so bad on account of Stella's mother's inventions. She was trying to find a way to recycle old sneakers. "The first person to do that," Stella's mother said, "will be a very rich woman." It was this latest experiment that had led to Stella's arrest.

The road got bumpier as it was no longer paved.

Stella was quite impressed she had a relative robbed by Kissin' Kate Barlow. She would have preferred living in a mansion in California, but it was still kind of cool to have someone in her family robbed by a famous outlaw.

"She was _lucky_ to survive," Stella's father said of the first Stella Hargrove. Stella sighed. The bus began to slow down. The guard grunted and sighed as he stretched his arms.

"Welcome to Camp Green Lake," the driver sighed. Stella looked out the dirty window. There was no lake. And hardly anything was green.

She felt somewhat dazed as the guard unlocked her handcuffs and led her off the bus. She'd been on the bus for over eight hours.

"Be careful," the driver warned in a low voice as she stepped down from the bus. Stella wasn't sure if it was a warning getting down the steps safely or if he meant to be careful in Camp Green Lake.

"Thanks for the ride," Stella said politely. Her mouth was dry and her throat hurt. She stepped down onto hard, dry dirt. There was a band of sweat around her wrists where the handcuffs had been.

The land was barren and desolate. She could see a few run-down buildings and some tents. Farther away there was a cabin beneath some tall trees, some of the only shade the little town had to offer. Outside the buildings she could see groups of _boys_ in orange jumpsuits, and each looked worse for wear.

Though the heat was above a hundred degrees, the sudden douse of dread, like a cold shower, turned her blood cold. Perhaps the girls were in another area of the camp. She stared around. The camp was too small to have two sections. The expression on the guard's face didn't comfort her. The guard led her to a small building. The sign on the front said 'You are entering Camp Green Lake Juvenile Correctional Facility'. Next to it was another sign which declared that it was in violation of the Texas Penal Code to bring guns, explosives, weapons, drugs, or alcohol onto the premises. _Well duh_, Stella thought. Inside the building, a wave of welcome air-conditioning swept over her. A man glanced up from a cluttered desk, squinting from below a straw cowboy hat. He chewed on sunflower seeds and spit the shells into a jar. The guard strode into the room and handed the man a clipboard of papers.

"Take a seat," the man said shortly, glancing at Stella. Stella sidled into the chair in front of the desk.

"What's with the sunflower seeds, man?" the guard asked, and Stella got the impression he and the man at the desk knew each other well. He probably accompanied all the juvenile delinquents to Camp Green Lake.

"I quit smoking last month," the man growled. He had a tattoo of a rattlesnake on his right forearm. As he signed the papers the snake seemed to wiggle. "I used to smoke a pack a day. Now I eat a sack of these a week." The guard laughed. The man behind the desk spit out more sunflower seeds and turned to Stella. He glanced at the files he had been given.

"Stella Hargrove, the second?" Stella nodded.

"My name is Mr. Sir," he said. "Whenever you speak to me you will call me by my name, is that clear?"

"Yes Mr. Sir," Stella nodded. Mr. Sir sighed as he took in her appearance.

"This ain't a Girl Scout camp," Mr. Sir said. "Understand?" There must have been a small refrigerator behind his desk, because the man with the cowboy hat produced two cans of soda. For one hopeful second Stella thought one was for her, but the man handed them both to the guard. Stella thought of the long, miserable bus ride and felt sorry for the guard and the bus driver. Mr. Sir saw Stella eyeing the soda cans.

"Are you thirsty Stella?" he asked.

"Yes Mr. Sir," she answered gratefully.

"Well you'd better get used to it," Mr. Sir said in a low voice. "You're gonna be thirsty for the next eighteen months." Behind her the guard snapped the soda can open. The guard nodded to Mr. Sir and left the building, stepped onto the bus and the driver sped away as quickly as he could. Mr. Sir stepped outside too, to give Stella the 'tour' of the camp.

"Look around you, Hargrove" he said, walking ahead of her with a true cowboy-strut. "What do you see?" Stella thought it was rhetorical. There was nothing to see. "Any guard-towers? How about an electric fence? Hm?"

"No, Mr. Sir," Stella shook her head.

"You wanna run away," he gestured, "go ahead, start running. I won't stop you." He turned to one of the buildings, and one of the boys glaring over at them from the old wooden walkway raised off the ground and touched the gun on his hip. "I'm warning you!" he yelled. Stella eyed the gun as he turned back to her.

"Oh, don't worry," Mr. Sir said in what Stella thought might be a soothing tone if she knew his character more acutely. "This here is for the Yellow-Spotted Lizards. I wouldn't waste a bullet on you."

"I'm not going to run away, Mr. Sir," Stella said quietly.

"That's good thinking, Hargrove," Mr. Sir said. "Doesn't nobody run away from here, you wanna know why? We've got the only water for a hundred miles; our own little _oasis_. You wanna run away, them buzzards will pick you clean by the end of the third day." Stella was led to a small building, an outhouse of supplies. Inside there was an older boy, maybe a year older than Stella. He was blonde but his hair was slicked back to the nape of his neck, and he had a permanent scowl. The orange jumpsuit was tied around his hips revealing an off-white t-shirt. To the left of the shack there were shelves of black leather boots, cupboards of the orange jumpsuits. Other items cluttered the rest of the shelf space. Mr. Sir sighed and glanced at Stella as he threw a pair of the black boots to her. Stella caught them but wasn't ready for Mr. Sir's order to undress. Stella had hated even undressing for P.E. in a roomful of the girls in her class. They had teased her because, unlike them, she had a higher percentage of body fat than the two-percent they had between them. Stella glanced uneasily at the boy behind a desk, but Mr. Sir just went around picking things from the shelves. Stella sighed and set her backpack on the floor, and as quickly as she could changed into an off-white t-shirt and the orange jumpsuit, exchanging her white Payless sneakers for the heavy boots. She realised she had had to strip so Mr. Sir could see she wasn't hiding anything. Mr. Sir took her backpack and handed it to the boy to search for similar reasons. It was cleared and Stella received everything inside back. The boy smirked as she had seen the birth control patches her mother had insisted on giving her so she wouldn't have to deal with the hassle of her period. Now Stella was grateful for them. Though she had no intention of sleeping with anyone, it would ensure she wouldn't have to embarrass herself in front of a camp full of boys asking for tampons. Who would she ask anyway? Surely there would be no female councillors in a boys' camp. _A camp full of boys_, Stella thought.

"You get two sets of clothes; one for work, one for relaxation. After three days your work clothes will be washed and your second set becomes your work clothes. Is that clear?"

"Yes, Mr. Sir," Stella gasped, tightening the laces of her boots.

"You are to dig one hole each day," Mr. Sir said. He never looked at her, or even the boy making a neat pile of things for her. "Five foot deep, five foot in diameter. Your shovel is your measuring stick. The longer it takes you to dig, the longer you'll be out in the hot sun. You'll need to keep alert for lizards…and rattlesnakes." Stella hated snakes.

"Rattlesnakes," she repeated.

"If you don't bother them, they won't bother you," Mr. Sir said sagely. "Usually. Being bitten by a rattlesnake is not the worst thing that can happen to you. You won't die," he spat out sunflower seed shells. "Usually. But you don't wanna get bit by a Yellow-Spotted Lizard. That is the worst thing that can happen to you. You will die, a slow and painful death. Always." Stella stared at him from the floor, tying the second set of laces. The door beside her swung open and a short man in sandals and grey tube socks came into the hut.

"Stanley Hargrove," he said, and Stella raised her eyebrows. The man peered down at her curiously for a second and then turned to Mr. Sir.

"Stanley Hargrove is a _girl_," he frowned in surprise.

"There must have been a mix up at the courts," Mr. Sir said in a low voice. "This is Stella Hargrove." Stella stood up straight and was quite a few inches taller than the man.

"She can't stay here," he said, and Stella thought she heard a little bit of genuine concern in his voice.

"Bus already left," Mr. Sir shrugged. "She's stuck here until we get another opening." Stella was already feeling nervous, but the idea of going to jail, which was probably much worse, with much harder criminals, didn't appeal to her. The new man sighed and stared at her in the eyes, which made Stella notice that Mr. Sir never made eye-contact with anyone.

"Well, _Stella_ Hargrove," he said. "I just want you to know, that you may have done some bad things, but that _does not _make you a _bad person_." She felt sure he had changed the lines written on his little notepad from 'boy' to 'person'. "I _respect you_, Stella." Stella thought he was kind of creepy, in an in-your-face kind of way. He shook her hand. "Welcome to Camp Green Lake. I'm Dr. Pendanski, your councillor."

"You start that touchy-feely crap I'm out of here," Mr. Sir growled. He spoke to the boy behind him. "Give her some towels, some tokens." Dr. Pendanski started out of the hut but Mr. Sir kept Stella back by a hand on her shoulder.

"Young lady, this ain't the Girl Scouts," he had said that before, Stella thought. "Zane," he glanced over his shoulder, "are you lonely?" Stella's eyes widened.

"Yes, Mr. Sir," the boy said in a low voice.

"Are the other boys lonely too?"

"Yes, Mr. Sir," the boy answered.

"Zane, it's your _responsibility _to make sure none of your boys gets any _ideas_ regarding our new camper," Mr. Sir growled, and securing his hat, he left the hut. Stella glanced worriedly at Mr. Sir's receding back and Zane. Zane smirked and shoved a stack of clothing and bed sheets across the table with a large canteen of heavy plastic, which was unfortunately empty.

"Thanks," she said quietly, and hurried out of the cabin after Dr. Pendanski.

"You'll be in D-tent," Dr. Pendanski said, marching at a quick pace to make up for his lack of leg. "D stands for Diligence." He pointed out some of the buildings. "That's the mess hall, that's the rec room, and there's the showers. There's only one knob, because there's only one temperature; cold…And that's the Warden's cabin." The Warden lived in far more luxury than the campers, and from what Stella could see, the councillors as well, with his own satellite dish, well-manicured 'garden' and water to clean the old Chrysler, which several boys were washing. "That's the number one rule in Camp Green Lake; Do not upset the Warden."

"Yeah," Stella nodded in agreement, "he seemed kind of…"

"Who?" Dr. Pendanski asked, and his eyebrows raised above the brim of his hat. "Oh, Mr. Sir? He's not the Warden. He's just been in a bad mood since he quit smoking." Nearing the D tent, three dirt-covered, scruffy boys, each carrying a shovel and a canteen, came round the corner. Two were black, and one with thick, black-rimmed glasses and a bandana tied around his head with a handkerchief or other strip of fabric hanging over his neck and ears spoke to Dr. Pendanski.

"Hey Doc," he called, "who's the girl?" The second black boy, who far outweighed anyone Stella ever met, with a dirty cap on, and the white boy, who was just as dirty as the two others, wore a strip of cloth around his head like the first boy with a dirty baseball cap set on top, both stared at Stella.

"This is Stella," Dr. Pendanski said.

"So what's happening with Barfbag?" the rotund black boy asked. The white boy chewed a piece of straw or wood. Dr. Pendanski's expression changed to concern.

"Oh, Lewis won't be returning," he said. "He's still in the hospital."

"Stella, meet Rex," Dr. Pendanski gestured to the black boy with glasses, "Alan," was the toothpick-chewer, "and Theodore," was the large boy.

"Hi," Stella said, trying to keep the nervous tremor in her voice from being too conspicuous.

"My name is X-Ray," the boy with glasses said hostilely. "That's Squid, and Armpit." Stella couldn't understand why anyone would want to be called Armpit, but then she couldn't understand how a judge could be so careless as to send a girl miles into the desert inside a boys' juvenile correctional camp.

"Him," Squid nodded to Dr. Pendanski, "he's Doc." Dr. Pendanski chuckled.

"They all like to have their little nicknames," he laughed, "but I prefer to use the names their parents gave them, the names society will recognise them by." X-Ray rolled his eyes animatedly. "Alan, why don't we show Stella her cot?" X-Ray, Stella quickly determined, was the leader of their group, of the entire D-tent. Squid waited for X-Ray's approval before nodding to 'Doc' and walking off to one of the large grey tents labelled with a black D.

"Welcome to your new home," Dr. Pendanski said, pushing mesh doors of the tent aside.

"Barfbag slept here," Squid said, patting an empty cot. A stain on the mattress suggested the reason the previous owner had earned the nickname Barfbag. Stella was given a crate from a stack at the end of a bunk turned sideways against the length of the tent, and she stored her bag inside it. Two more boys entered the tent, seemingly without noticing her. One boy was shorter than the other, of Hispanic descent, and the other was blonde underneath the dirt.

"I'm Magnet," the shorter boy said, and jerking a thumb at the other boy, named him Zigzag. Stella peered closer at Zigzag and recognised his facial features.

"Hi Ricky," she sighed softly, shaking her head slowly as she took in Ricky's appearance. Ricky looked quite surprised to see her in such a remote location and glanced at Dr. Pendanski. He moved on to his cot without a word, while Magnet scolded Squid for leaving something on the floor.

"And this," Dr. Pendanski said, pointing down at the smallest boy in the tent, lying on the cot opposite Stella's, "is Zero." Whether Zero was a nickname or his real name Stella didn't know. X-Ray didn't correct Dr. Pendanski and Dr. Pendanski only used the boys' real names.

"Say hello to Stella, Zero," Dr. Pendanski said. Zero didn't look up from the hands clasped on his stomach as he lay on his cot. He didn't even move except the gentle rise and fall of his chest. "Do you wanna know why they call him Zero? Cos there's nothing going on in his stupid little head." For a councillor, Stella didn't like Dr. Pendanski's tact.

"Did you tell her about the lizards?" Ricky, or Zigzag asked Dr. Pendanski.

"Ricky, let's not scare Stella," Dr. Pendanski said sombrely.

"Yo, his name's not Ricky, it's Zigzag, a'ight," X-Ray said savagely. Dr. Pendanski ignored his comment.

"Stella, if you have any questions, just ask Alan," he said, knocking the baseball cap off Squid's head. "Alan will be your mentor. Got that, Alan?"

"Yeah man, whatever," Squid sighed, throwing himself down onto his cot, propping his head on his arm.

"I'm depending on you," Dr. Pendanski said. He left the tent, and as he did so, he shouted back at them; "It should be no labour to be nice to your neighbour." In small groups the boys left the tent, all but Zero who had curled up on his cot facing the canvas wall. Stella took her crate, which was at the top of a stack of three, and put it like Zero's beside her bed near the door. Hers was the first cot on the right, and 'Zigzag' slept beside her, then X-Ray, Squid, and on the other side of the tent, Armpit, Magnet and Zero. There were seven occupants. Stella didn't empty her bag into the crate, just dumped it inside, taking her hat, a slightly crushed straw cowboy hat, she exited the tent with her canteen. Armpit, Squid and Zigzag were standing near the showers, throwing small stones at nothing in particular. Stella trudged over to them, annoyed with how heavy the boots were and how badly the jumpsuit fit her. She felt like a proper gangster with her jeans by her knees! What would Grandma say if she could see her now? Stella smiled to herself at the thought. Grandma was always very proud of appearances. She never allowed Stella out of the house looking like a slut.

"Um…Squid? Is there somewhere I can fill my canteen?" she asked quietly. Squid frowned at her from under his bandana and layers of dust and dirt and nodded behind her at the showers.

"Yeah, there's a water spigot over there," he said, nodding to the couple of boys freshly showered, draping soaked handkerchiefs around their necks. Stella nodded and walked over to the spigot, sizing the boys up. Apart from the initial stop-and-stare of seeing a girl in an all-boys camp, they ignored her. She didn't fill the canteen up to the brim; she had a feeling water was in high demand. She walked back over to the boys and took a large gulp of water. Zigzag took the canteen and almost drained it, passed it to Armpit who did likewise, until it was Squid's turn and there was little left. Stella took the almost-empty canteen back to the tent and returned, after Squid's advice, to them, and they went to the mess hall for dinner. Stella took a tray and followed Magnet down the line. The food was reminiscent of what Stella's mother produced: The meat was brown and the helping of beans was almost the exact same colour. They were each given two slices of good bread and a small metal cup of water. Stella was surprised the cutlery was metal too.

"Hey Stella," Zigzag called, waving her over. Ricky moved down the bench which he and Magnet shared and Magnet moved down too. "This is where you sit." Stella put her tray down and climbed onto the bench. It was unnerving, being the only girl in an enclosed room of over fifty other boys, and outside there were more still. She felt terrible; she had always been shy, but here every eye seemed to be on her. She wasn't used to that. She sat huddled in her seat, and Ricky openly stared at her, turned in his seat to face her. X-Ray sat at the head of the table, and it was evident now that he was leader.

"Hey new kid," he said, "new kid. See, you didn't dig today, so uh, you wouldn't mind giving up your bread to someone who did now, do you?" He reached across Zigzag's tray and took the bread from Stella's tray. Stella watched him take it mournfully. The bread was the only thing that looked appetising.

"No, you can have it," she mumbled.

"So what'd they get you for?" Squid asked interestedly. Stella glanced up at him.

"Stealing a pair of shoes," Stella mumbled. All the boys except Zigzag and Zero laughed. Zigzag still stared at her calculatingly. Zero just frowned at his tray.

"From the store?" Squid asked, "or were they still on someone's feet?"

"Oh no, she just killed the guy first," Zigzag guessed. "You just left out that little detail, right?" Stella glanced at him and Squid.

"They were Clyde Livingston's baseball cleats," Stella said. The boys just laughed louder. Zero looked up, frowning.

"Sweet-feet's?" Armpit snorted.

"What? Man, you did not steal no _Clyde Livingston Sweet-Feet's_ shoes," X-Ray argued.

"They were his world-series cleats," Stella said.

"Hold on, hold on," Magnet said. "How did you get them? He's like the fastest guy in the majors, right?"

"He only scored four triples in one game," Squid nodded. This was all news to Stella. She hated baseball.

"Clyde Livingston donated his shoes to this homeless shelter," Stella said.

"Did they have red Xs on them?" Zero asked. Several boys dropped their cutlery and all were shocked into silence. Squid, sitting next to Zero on the opposite bench, turned to the little boy in similar fashion as Zigzag stared at Stella.

"You got Zero to _talk_," Squid gasped.

"Hey, what else can you do Zero?" Armpit asked. Zero glanced at Armpit but ignored the question. Stella nodded.

"Yeah, they did," she said quietly. Zero returned to his tray of food. Stella began to pick at her food, eventually deciding she wasn't going to get anything else and just didn't breathe while she ate. There was nothing disgusting to it; the food had no flavour; it was bland from overcooking.

Clyde Livingston had been at Stella's hearing. He had told his lawyer that he had donated his shoes to the same orphanage that he had grown up in. He said he couldn't understand why anyone would steal from homeless children. Stella's sentence was shortened due to no evidence in her apartment to suggest motive for stealing Sweet-Feet's cleats.

It was ironic; when she had told the truth about not being the one who had stolen the shoes from the orphanage, no one had believed her except Grandma and her mother. And now, when she said she'd stolen the shoes, no one believed her.

The camp was surprisingly noisy at night. Stella couldn't sleep. She lay on her cot, tossing and turning until she was so annoyed she buried her head under her pillow to drown out the noise of Armpit's snoring. Of course, growing up sharing a bedroom with her grandmother, who sounded like a freight-train roaring through the room, Stella was used to noise. Stella kept turning the story of Sonja Corvin over and over in her mind, spoken in her grandmother's voice hoarse by age.

"It was all because of your dirty-rotten-money-stealing-great-great-grandmother. That's who sealed our destiny. Why do you think none of her inventions work?" she frowned at Stella's mother.

"Ma!" Stella's mother exclaimed, and turned to Stella, "I learn from failure."

"It doesn't matter how smart you are," Grandma chuntered. "You need luck, something we ain't got."

"Yeah? What about your mother, the first Stella Hargrove? She wasn't so unlucky. You told me her husband made a fortune in the stock markets," Stella's mother frowned.

"Some luck," Grandma laughed bitterly. "She lost everything. She was _robbed_ by Kissin' Kate Barlow.

"Are you kidding me?" Stella said in surprise. "Did she kiss her?"

"Oh no," Grandma shook her head. "She only ever kissed the _men_ she killed."

"She'd have kissed her, she'd have killed her, and you'd have never been born," Stella's mother said seriously. But Kate Barlow did kiss Stella's great-grandfather, leaving the first Stella Hargrove with only a little water and no food in the middle of the Texas desert with a small baby, stranded for sixteen days.


	2. Chapter 2

A pre-recorded trumpet blared from speakers Stella hadn't noticed outside. Armpit snored so loudly he woke himself up with a grunt and the other boys groaned. Stella, working on no sleep at all, dragged herself off her cot and pulled the orange jumpsuit on over a t-shirt and her boots. Half asleep, she followed the boys outside, where Dr. Pendanski and Mr. Sir were already wide awake, drinking coffee from thermos flasks, blaring whistles.

"Smiling faces, smiling faces," Dr. Pendanski shouted. Stella folded her sunglasses into one of the chest pockets of her suit and jammed her hat onto her head. Perhaps it would mask the fact she was sleeping standing up. The other boys seemed more accustomed to rising before daylight hours. It was only four in the morning. "Tortillas on the left, shovels on the right."

"Alright, get your shovels," Mr. Sir said, unlocking the shed. "Come on Magnet, open them peepers." Magnet moved like a zombie, as if he had walked the same track every day and didn't need to be awake to walk it again. Stella reached for a shovel and followed Squid to the line for breakfast. Someone shoved into her and snatched her shovel. X-Ray threw his shovel to the ground and Stella picked it up, wondering what she had done wrong.

"You picked up X-Ray's shovel," Magnet grunted. "It's shorter than the rest of them." Stella could see no significant difference. If X-Ray's shovel was shorter, it was by a fraction of an inch. Squid moved out of the way and Stella saw the platter of tortillas, folded in half, smeared with sticky syrup. She picked one up and rolled her sleeve up so none of the syrup dripped onto it.

"Smaller shovel," Squid said, "smaller hole."

D-tent was the first group out in the desert. They were led by Zero, who was the smallest boy in the camp, with his shovel behind his shoulders, his arms draped over it. The other boys followed half-asleep, carrying shovels and empty canteens. Stella walked beside Zigzag and Squid, who she had taken a liking to simply because he didn't tease her or make her feel uncomfortable. They walked, in Stella's reckoning, miles until they reached the land that wasn't full of five-foot holes. The ground was dry and cracked, and in the night the dust blew steadily in the breeze.

"This isn't a Girl Scout camp; nobody's gonna baby-sit you," Mr. Sir said. He drove a large blue truck with a water tank in the bed. He set D-tent in one area and the other boys were sectioned off in their tent groups. Mr. Sir made an X with the heel of his cowboy boot in the dirt. "Dig here. Now, if you find anything _interesting_, you are to report it to me or Dr. Pendanski. If the Warden likes what you find you get the rest of the day off.

"What am I supposed to be looking for Mr. Sir?" Stella asked.

"You're not looking for anything," Mr. Sir said sharply. "You're building character. You take a bad boy and make him dig holes all day in the hot sun, and it turns him into a good boy. That's our philosophy here at Camp Green Lake. Start digging." Stella sighed and eyed the dirt. She measured the shovel. Five feet was very wide, and very deep. The shovel was heavy in Stella's soft, fleshy hands. She tried to jam it into the earth, and when that failed she found a crack in the packed earth and drove the metal blade into it. About eight inches below the surface the dirt was less compressed and easier to move. It was still dark. Stella looked up briefly when she had made a shallow hole the entire five foot diameter to go by, and saw more stars than she had ever seen before. It was beautiful, she couldn't deny that, and even with the rhythmic noise of several hundred boys shoveling, it didn't detract from the beauty of millions of stars beaming down at them. There were mountains off in the distance, and several seemed to loom over them, like the barriers Mr. Sir said didn't exist.

_Only ten million more to go_, Stella sighed as she drove the shovel deeper into the earth. By the time she had broken about six inches below the surface, a blister had formed between his thumb and forefinger. _Perhaps jail would have been easier_.

Stella's great-great-grandmother was named Sonja Corvin. When she was fifteen years old she fell in love with one of the local gentlemen of good fortune. She was from a poor family so there was no time for parties and social events. She worked in her father's farm with her brothers and sisters. When she wasn't watching her siblings or mucking out the pigpen, Sonja went and sat with the gypsy women, who lived with their caravans near Sonja's village. The gypsy elder, their medicine woman, was quick to make Sonja a favourite of hers, and she hated to see Sonja unhappy. Sonja heard the father of the boy she loved intended his son to take a wife before the year was out. Sonja told Madame Zeroni of this and the gypsy helped Sonja make a dress for the ball Mr. Hargrove Sr. intended to throw for his son and prospective bride. All the young ladies of the village were invited, and Sonja was allowed, as she was fifteen, to attend. The question of a dowry arose when the young man took interest in Sonja's blonde, blue-eyed beauty. Again, Madame Zeroni provided an answer. Gypsies were known and despised in the area for thievery, though they did it to survive. Madame Zeroni gave Sonja a generous offering of gold for a dowry to offer the young man, on the condition that once she was married, Sonja would not forget the kindness Madame Zeroni had bestowed on her by acting on a promise. There was a mountain by the foot of the forest by the village, and at the top a river ran upstream. Madame Zeroni had one foot; the other leg stopped at the ankle, so she could not walk. Madame Zeroni asked that Sonja carry her up the mountain to drink the magic water from the stream, and sing a song to her so she would get stronger.

"If only, if only," the woodpecker sighs,

"The bark on the trees was as soft as the skies."

While the wolf waits below, hungry and lonely,

He cries to the moon,

"If only, if only."

Madame Zeroni promised that if she failed to do this, Sonja and all female descendants from her line would be cursed for eternity. Sonja was young; eternity didn't seem such a long time to her. Besides, she liked Madame Zeroni. She would have carried her up the mountain at that moment. Madame Zeroni was rather small and light, folded into a handmade wheelchair.

Stella's hole was about three feet deep. The sun had only just broken the horizon, but already she could feel the hot rays splashing across her face. She kept her face, which was shielded by the brim of her cowboy hat, facing the sun so her neck wouldn't be exposed to the angry rays. Pausing, she reached for her canteen, and felt suddenly, sickeningly dizzy. Stella wasn't an active girl. She hated P.E. on account of running, and everyone teased her for being so slow anyway. She was afraid she was going to throw up, like she had seen several of the fastest runners in the school do after pelting full-speed in the hottest part of the day, when she always seemed to have P.E. lessons. She drank from the canteen, sparing the last few drops for later, and sat on the edge of her hole. She squinted at her hands from behind her dark sunglasses and was dismayed to see blisters on her palms and in between her thumbs and forefingers. The boys' holes were deeper than hers, but they had been at the camp longer and were used to digging. She couldn't actually see their holes but could see the growing size of the dirt piles. As the sun got higher, the pace at which the boys worked slowed due to their tired bodies and the heat, and they talked amongst themselves. It was evident D-tent was a close-knit group. Their nicknames were a term of respect that had to be earned. Stella carried on working until she heard, rather than saw in the simmering sky line, the blue truck of Mr. Sir's approaching to refill their canteens. Squid came over to her hole and raised his eyebrows above his bandana at how much she had gotten done. Her hole was nearly four foot deep in the centre, but the sides sloped up gently from the middle. He pulled Stella out of her hole, and her breath caught as he grasped her hand. He examined her palms.

"Oh my god," Magnet winced, peering over Stella's shoulder at her hands. "The first hole's the hardest, right." The boys lined up at the back of the truck in preordained order. First was X-Ray, then Armpit, and a minor tussle broke out between Magnet and Squid. Eventually Squid sent Magnet back to his place behind Zigzag, who stood behind Squid, and Stella waited behind Zero.

"So how'd it go your first day Hargrove?" Mr. Sir asked, filling Armpit's canteen. "Got some blisters?"

"Big fat blisters," Magnet commented.

"Yeah," Stella sighed, trying to resist picking at the bubbles on her palms.

"Don't worry; everything turns to callus eventually," Mr. Sir said sagely. "That's life. Next." Mr. Sir filled her canteen, Stella thanked him and returned to her hole. Zero stood above his, leaning on his shovel, and spat into the hole. Stella walked past and frowned.

"You're done?" she asked. Zero picked up his shovel and canteen and began making his way back to the camp.

"Zero's like the fastest digger in the camp," Magnet sighed, squinting after the small orange form.

"He's a mole," Squid said. "I think he eats the dirt." Stella went back to digging but added to the conversation.

"Yeah, he's a weird dude," Zigzag agreed.

"Moles don't eat dirt," she corrected. "Worms eat dirt. That's where the earth gets its nutrients. There are no animals living here for sure."

"Except rattlesnakes, scorpions and Yellow-Spotted Lizards," X-Ray added.

"They don't live _in_ the ground though," Stella sniffed, wiping her nose as sweat trickled down from her forehead. She wiped her sleeve across her forehead and sighed.

Stella remained at her hole while the others began drifting back to camp. Finally she had finished, using her shovel to measure. Her arms were tired, and trying to get out of her hole without using her palms, with blisters which had ripped and formed new ones, was not easy. Finally she managed to pull herself up by her elbows, using her legs to clamber up the wall, and picked up her shovel and canteen and started making her way back. From what she could see, she was the last person out on the 'lake'. Stella got rid of her hat and sunglasses in the tent and her shovel was put back in the shed with the others, and she went and threw herself onto her cot. The other boys had still not showered and were relaxing before they went for dinner. Stella had been given a swimsuit by her mother, just in case, and she put it on under her jumpsuit after they had eaten dinner –she had been allowed to keep her bread today- and showered. It was a shock, after the hundred degree heat, to step under a jet of ice-cold water. Her whole body tensed up, which was more painful than she could have guessed, but it was quite soothing as well. Stella's long hair was soaked through, but she didn't have time to wash it with shampoo due to a four-minute limit to conserve water. Tokens were used, and the water started running the second a coin was deposited. Like all the buildings, the shower block was raised off the floor. The walls were only waist-height, not tall enough by far in Stella's view, with a gap about six inches tall at the bottom for the water to run out by. Stella had championed the skill of changing from a one-piece swimsuit into normal clothing without anybody seeing anything many years earlier, so the boys who lingered outside while she showered were severely disappointed. Once they saw they weren't going to be seeing anything, the boys went back to the rec room, or 'Wreck Room' as someone had graffiti-d on the door, or their tents. She was alone outside and the sun had fallen, dropping a veil of darkness remarkably quickly over the camp. She tied her shoelaces and was about to walk back to the tent when she heard someone click a gun. She glanced up and Mr. Sir was squinting at her, pointing the gun at her. She stood still in shock. _I haven't even done anything wrong_.

"Don't move," Mr. Sir warned. Stella did as she was told. Mr. Sir fired off the pistol and Stella glanced down. She didn't feel anything hurting. Maybe she was already dead and just had to fall to the ground. There were no entry wounds. She glanced behind her and saw what Mr. Sir had really been aiming at: a lizard. And Stella could see its spots. But the lizard wasn't dead. The bullet had missed it, and that just made it angry. The lizard hissed and glanced at Stella. It used its powerful legs to jump off the wall of the showers, where it had detected water, onto the ground and made to run at her. Mr. Sir's eyes widened in horror and he shot again. This time he hit his target and the lizard fell to the floor, decapitated. Stella picked up her canteen, peering curiously at the body. There were exactly eleven spots on the lizards back. Mr. Sir stepped forward with wide, paranoid eyes, glancing around shiftily.

"Get yourself a good sleep girlie," he said in a low voice.

"Yes Mr. Sir," Stella nodded, and ran off to the tent. Zigzag and Magnet approached her inside the tent.

"What colour was its blood?" Zigzag asked, peering at her with wide, dark-blue eyes.

"Um…I don't… Red, I suppose," Stella mumbled.

"Oh I wish I'd have seen it," Zigzag sighed. "BAM!" Stella jumped and Armpit laughed.

"If Mr. Sir didn't shoot it," Armpit started,

"Stella, you'd be in a hole," Magnet said. Ricky stared at her as she pulled her pajamas on.

"Did you know that each lizard's got exactly eleven spots?" he asked quietly.

"If you ever get close enough to count them all," Squid said, drawing a finger across his neck, "you're dead." He sat on Armpit's cot playing with smooth stones. He and Zigzag were some of the older boys in the tent and both were shirtless. Both boys had distinctive tan-lines around the upper arms and neck, but both were stronger than the other boys. Ricky was the tallest, with broad shoulders and when he wore a plain t-shirt it fit his frame perfectly, displaying his toned arms. Squid was smaller in comparison but was still buff.

"It's the lizards we're working for," Armpit said sagely. "We're building their houses for them." Lying on his cot in the darkness, Zero shook his head. "I mean like yesterday I saw ten of them in one hole."

"We ain't diggin' for no _lizards_," X-Ray said.

"What are we digging for then, man?" Armpit asked quietly.

"Like Mr. Sir said, we're diggin' to build character," X-Ray shrugged. After his shower, his glasses were clean and they could see his magnified eyes. The boys all laughed. Another shot silenced them and startled them to look out of the canvas doorway. Stella crawled under the light blanket with a book and started to read, until the lights went off automatically inside the tent. She bookmarked her page and instantly fell asleep.

The automated trumpet sounded but Stella fought back. The boys made noise to wake themselves up and pushed and shoved each other to get out of bed. Stella had wrapped herself so tight inside her blanket that when Zigzag tried to strip it away, she was pulled off the cot onto the floor too.

"She's wrapped up like a cocoon," X-Ray laughed as Stella groaned. She tried to sit up and found that her arms weighed tons. They were so sore and tired she knew she wouldn't be able to dig very well. She actually fell back to sleep right on the floor, until Ricky coaxed her out of the folds of her blanket, promising that breakfast was the best meal of the day and she didn't want to have her ration stolen. Waiting by the shovel shed, Stella leaned her forehead against Squid's shoulder, using him for support in case she fell asleep again.

Contrary to what Magnet had said, the second hole was harder than the first. Stella's arms were so sore she felt her muscles screaming in protest with every shovelful of dirt she removed from the earth. The blisters had left bloody scabs on her palms, which were stripped away and started bleeding again after only a few minutes. Stella continued to work until Dr. Pendanski came for the first rounds with the water truck, by which time her palms were covered with dried blood. Dr. Pendanski wrinkled his nose in distaste when Stella showed him her hands as he filled her canteen.

Working under painful circumstances was not fun. There was little she added to the circling conversation on global warming between the D-tent boys and was surprised at how quickly after Magnet finished she followed him back to camp.

The shower was four minutes of heaven. Forget the game Seven Minutes in Heaven. She would stick for four. She didn't bother changing out of her underwear into a swimsuit; she was too tired, and just stood under the cold jet with her eyes closed and shoulders slumped. She pulled her relaxation clothes on and trudged back to the tent, the arms of the overalls trailing around her hips. All the boys were in the tent for some reason, instead of the Wreck room. Stella sighed as she crawled onto the bed and spread out luxuriously on the blanket.

"Tired?" Stella cracked an eye open and turned her head to the sound of the voice. Zigzag, or Ricky, lay on his side, watching her. She tried to nod but could only manage a strangled sound of agreement. "You'll get used to it."

"Why are you all in here?" Stella asked with a wide yawn. "I thought you'd be playing pool or something."

"Ziggy wanted to wait for you before dinner," X-Ray said, but glancing at Ricky, Stella saw he had raised an eyebrow in surprise.

"Well you boys better carry me to the mess hall if you want to eat," she sighed.

After dinner, which Stella had been looking forward to even if it meant colorless, tasteless slime, she decided to pen a letter to her Grandma. While the boys stole the basketball hoop from some of the younger campers, Stella sat on the veranda of one of the old run-down buildings, by a boy sitting in an old-fashioned barber's chair. The chair was by the door to the Wreck Room and Stella could hear the other boys playing pool and generally making a lot of noise. She chewed the end of the pen and glanced inside the room. Zane, the boy from the supply shed, forced another boy down under the bench press, aided by several other older boys.

These four boys were the oldest in the camp and had been here the longest time. They had the run of all the other boys and Stella knew it was them she was to be wary of. They helped the councilors when 'new meat' arrived, getting them their new clothes, and helped the cook with dinner. Zane was leader of their group and Stella was particularly wary of the way he looked at her.

Dear Grandma, I think you'd like it here at Camp Green Lake. It's beautiful. At night there are millions of stars and everything is lit solely by the moon and the stars. The food is good, not as good as yours of course, and the wildlife is something special. We're out on the lake all day 'building character', that's what Dr. Pendanski says, my councilor. The people here aren't really bad; they were just in the wrong place at the wrong time, like I was. There are seven of us in my tent. I'm in tent D for Diligence. The others all have nicknames. I'm the new kid, so I have yet to earn a nickname. Keep me posted on Mom's inventions, and I hope you're still taking your medication. Don't be skipping it just because I'm not there to check you're not cheeking it. Please send another book and some of my old t-shirts. Thank you. Love, Stella.

Stella licked the back of the envelope and printed her home address clearly on the front.

"Who are you writing to?" Squid asked, scowling as he snatched the letter from her hands. He read the address. "Aw! You miss your mommy?"

"I don't want them to worry," she said quietly.

"They don't care," Squid said, crumpling the letter. Stella tried to snatch at it but he held her back with a hand on the collar of her t-shirt. "_Believe me,_ they're glad to be rid of you." Squid threw the letter into the trash ferociously and Stella picked it out. Zigzag, picking up that Squid was against the idea of letter-writing, showed Stella where to put her letter; inside the rec room by the door was a small wooden box with a slit in the top lid and a padlock. Stella had the distinct impression the mail box was rarely used.

The next day was harder than the first and second. Stella's hands were bleeding quite freely, even though she tore an old handkerchief in two and wrapped the pieces of cloth around her hands, and several new blisters had formed. Her only comfort was that there were no blisters on her feet, and that nothing had happened regarding her being the only female for nearly a hundred miles. Perhaps if she wasn't so tired her brain would have had the energy to worry. But nothing had happened the past two nights and she went on believing nothing else would happen.

Stella had been digging for several hours and her pace, despite her hands and their condition, was quickening. Her arms had gotten over the pain of the first two days and were getting accustomed to hard labour. She dug up a shovelful of dirt and uncovered a large flat rock. She bent to pick it up and saw, etched in the surface, the form of a fish.

"Hey, look what I found," she said, pleased she had found something interesting amongst the dirt. It wasn't interesting enough to please Dr. Pendanski, she was sure, so she merely showed Zigzag and Squid.

"Hey look at the little fishy," Armpit cooed, taking the rock from Squid. Stella sighed and took a drink from her canteen.

"I guess there really was a lake out here," Stella sighed. Dr. Pendanski walked over to their little congregation and frowned at Stella.

"There was a town too," he said. "The Warden's grandfather owned the lake and half the town." Dr. Pendanski filled their canteens and drove off to the next group. As always the older boys, including Zane and his friends, worked in the next area to D-tent. Stella could see them working away at a steady pace even until Dr. Pendanski pulled up in the truck. Stella went to work, but soon a shadow fell over her. She turned and saw X-Ray standing over her. Stella was the second-tallest in the group, after Zigzag, and a few fractions of an inch taller than Squid, who looked taller simply because his hat was propped on his bandana, raising it above his head. X-Ray cleared his throat, pulled the knees of his jumpsuit up so he could squat comfortably beside her.

"That was some lame crap you pulled," he said, and he lowered his voice. Despite that, there was nothing else to drown out his voice, and though he continued working, by the keen look in his eyes, Stella knew Zigzag was listening.

"Look, if you ever find anything," X-Ray said gently, though Stella knew he meant to intimidate her, "give it to me, you understand?" Stella frowned at him. That didn't seem fair at all. "I've been here for over six months and never found anything. _No one _has. Why should you get a day off when you just got here?" _Because I shouldn't even _be _here_, Stella thought. "You know what I'm saying, it's only fair. Right?" Stella frowned.

"Why shouldn't I just give it to one of _those_ guys over there?" Stella asked quietly, jerking her head behind her where Zane and his friends were digging. "They've been here longer than you, haven't they." X-Ray glanced over at the other diggers.

"We're all a family in D-tent. We look out for our own," X-Ray said. "Don't go mixing with those guys over us." Stella didn't have any intention of doing so but she still didn't think X-Ray's proposition was a fair one. She knew that if they wanted to, the boys of D-tent could make her life very miserable while she was at Camp Green Lake.

"So what do you say?" X-Ray prompted. "Give it to me?"

"Yeah," Stella sighed, not meeting his eye, toying with the blade of her shovel. X-Ray nodded, beaming.

"That's what I call an informed decision," he said, slapping her cheek playfully. He meandered off back to his hole and Stella kept digging. Zigzag caught her eye and shook his head. _Doormat_, Stella scolded herself. She knew Ricky was probably thinking the same thing.

The Wreck Room was appropriately named. Everything in the room was broken; the TV, the pinball machine, the furniture. Even the people looked broken, with their worn-out bodies sprawled over the various chairs and sofas. The room must have once been a bar or saloon, because a piano, long in disrepair, was stuck against the wall by the door. Boys were fighting over the foosball table and over in the lower left-hand corner boys were lifting weights or practicing their punches with a punching bag and gloves which were surprisingly not broken. Stella rubbed her eyes and slumped on one of the sofas beside Zigzag. A while later they migrated to the mess hall for dinner, after showers, and Stella went into the line with her hair, brushed through and dripping down the back and shoulders of her white t-shirt. She stood behind Zero, as usual, but someone slammed into her shoulder.

"You got a problem?" the boy asked hostilely, getting in her face. His hair was closely shaved but he had the beginnings of a whiskery mustache. He wore a white wife-beater under his jumpsuit and a tattoo of a snake wound around the base of his neck and collar bone. _That's perfect; Mr. Sir's own personal protégé_, Stella thought.

"No, I-," Stella stammered. Stella stepped back and one of the boys caught her waist. One of the councilors came over and took the boy by the upper arm and led him off to the table next to his. Stella went down the line quickly, barely making eye contact with any of the boys or the kitchen staff, but remembered to thank them. Grandma had always been very strict on manners. Here there was no time to say a prayer before she ate; if she closed her eyes her bread would be gone. She noticed, once sat down beside a wide-eyed Zigzag that Zane, who had ladled beans onto her tray, kept glancing at her from the cafeteria line. She turned to her food, unnerved both by the boy's warning and from Zane's attention. Squid draped a protective arm around her shoulder and whispered in her ear of the boy with the snake-tattoo, "Don't look at him; he's crazy, you understand me?" Stella nodded dazedly and ate her food, until the tray was wiped clean with her bread. She had never been one to leave food on her plate. Grandma had scolded wastefulness. And besides, she was hungry. Working all day did wonders for her appetite.

Stella was wary of the tattooed boy from that day on. Whenever he was in the rec room Stella remained in her tent reading. She now had newly cleaned clothes; laundry was done by tent every three days in a cycle. The clothes smelt of soap, like the bed sheets. Stella hadn't seen a mirror in a few days, but she knew by the burning sensation on her face and shoulders that she had burned her skin in the sun. It hadn't occurred to her to ask her mother for sunscreen. At least she wasn't a redneck! Her neck was protected by her hat, which she now wore religiously with her sunglasses, although the glasses were more an annoyance as they tended to slide down her nose due to sweat.

Following the incident in the mess hall, more than one boy had taken interest in Stella. At first, her arrival in Camp Green Lake had been somewhat hushed by the councilors so the boys wouldn't take notice of her. But now they all knew there was a sixteen-year-old girl in their midst and no one to keep them from manhandling her. She could barely walk into the mess hall or the Wreck room without someone grabbing her ass, and showering became Stella's worst nightmare. She showered with her t-shirt on, which was nice later on when she got hotter; it cooled her down, and annoyed the boys. Stella noticed that one of the only boys not to grab at her or stare through her shirt, apart from the D-tent boys, was Zane. Zane was in tent C with the snake-tattooed boy and their friend, Handsome Rob, named after his favourite character in _The Italian Job._ Apparently Rob had the same affinity with girls and cars. He had stolen one, a car, which had led to his arrest and sentence to Camp Green Lake. Stella didn't know what Zane or tattoo-boy had done but judging by the latter's behavior, Stella guessed it wasn't joyriding.

Stella carried her dinner tray over to her table. She was tired and wasn't paying much attention to anything, staring around at the softly lit lamps above the tables. She jumped in fright as her tray was thrown across the room. She didn't even see what had happened until she was thrown on her back onto one of the tables, held by the collar of her t-shirt. The tattooed boy leaned over her menacingly. The cold teeth of a metal fork bit into the skin of her neck.

"As long as you're here, you'd best watch out for me," the boy threatened. He lifted the pressure from the fork but Stella could already feel the hot trickle of blood, and shoved her so she fell off the table into the on-looking boys' laps. Some of the boys laughed, but others had risen in their seats in alarm. Stella was helped up by the boys she had landed on, although they were very touchy-feely. Stella glanced around the mess hall with wide, scared eyes and strode out of the room, straight to D-tent.

"Hi," someone yelled behind her, and as someone grabbed her arm she started violently. It was Ricky. Stella blinked and ducked inside the tent. Zigzag followed and Stella didn't know what to do. She sat on her cot facing away from Ricky.

For as long as she had known him, and they had grown up in the same apartment block back home, Ricky had not seemed the least bit interested in her. She supposed this was because he had his own friends who didn't really care he was poorer than they were, simply because he was good looking. Ricky was tall and well-built with broad shoulders, and months of digging holes daily had muscled up his arms and given him a dark tan. He had blonde hair that curled beautifully, bleached even paler by the sun. He never wore a hat and a small smattering of freckles dusted his nose. He had dark-blue eyes and a straight button nose, high cheekbones and a strong jaw.

"You all right?" he asked hoarsely. No matter how much water the campers drank, they were always thirsty. Stella felt the thin mattress of her cot sink slightly and the hard springs below it creaked as Ricky sat beside her. He nudged her gently and Stella started and stared at Ricky with wide eyes. She nodded numbly. Her neck prickled painfully. Ricky examined the four holes pierced into her skin. He groaned for her and went to his crate, picked up one of his oldest, cleanest t-shirts and ripped it into strips. Stella remained huddled on her cot while Ricky bit the fabric. He crawled back onto the cot and reached for her neck. Stella jerked backward but Ricky didn't move to hurt her. He stilled until she realized he wasn't like the other boy and tied the strip of cloth around her neck, covering the cuts.

"Did I do anything to piss him off?" Stella asked hoarsely. Ricky shrugged.

"You have breasts," he said simply. "Mick's here because he violated a restraining order against a girl."

"What'd he do?" Stella asked, though her blood chilled forebodingly. Ricky didn't answer but made serious eye contact to relay the dark nature of Mick's conviction. Stella breathed through her nose, as she always did when she wanted to calm down. Ricky sighed and shook his head, crossing his legs on the cot.

"What are you doing here?" he asked quietly. Stella glanced up from her hands and stared at Ricky. She glanced back at her healing palms. The scabs were beginning to be replaced by toughened scars. Mr. Sir was right; everything turned to callus eventually.

"I told you; I stole a pair of shoes," Stella mumbled.

"That's bullshit," Ricky said shortly. Stella glanced up again. "Your Grandma would skin you if you picked up a dollar bill from the floor and didn't return it to the owner." Ricky was a hard-ass but Stella's grandmother had been able to make him cry once. She could make anyone cry. Stella doubted even Mr. Sir would dare speak up against Sarah Hargrove.

"Maybe I should write her and tell her what that boy did," Stella said contemplatively. "He'd learn his lesson faster than digging a hole every day for several years." Ricky laughed appreciatively.

"So what happened?" he prompted.

"I told you-!" Ricky raised a fair eyebrow. Stella sighed.

"I was walking under the overpass near home when a pair of shoes fell onto my head," she recounted. She realized now that she had told the policeman who had arrested her that they had fallen out of the sky. _What an idiot_, Stella thought. "They were Clyde Livingston's, and the police were looking for them after they were stolen from the orphanage."

"But you didn't steal them," Zigzag frowned. "Why are you here?"

"My no-good-dirty-rotten-money-stealing-great-great-grandmother, that's why," Stella laughed softly. Growing up in the apartment above Stella's, Ricky had heard the story many times when his parents had given him to Stella's grandmother to watch while they went out. Ricky sighed and shook his head again.

"You have got to stop blaming her for everything," he said wisely.

"What do you expect Ricky? I've got no luck," Stella shrugged. "Look at me now; I'm in an all-boys camp because the cops think I stole a pair of sneakers. Why would I even steal Clyde Livingston's shoes? I wouldn't be able to wear them."

"They could help your mom's invention," Zigzag offered. That had actually been the reason Stella had run back home with the sneakers. Otherwise she would have left them there. She remembered that whoever had owned them had had one bad case of foot odor. Stella sighed and unconsciously picked at the makeshift bandage around her neck. She doubted Pendanski could do any better, so didn't bother going to see him. Actually, Stella didn't know which kind of doctor he was. Was he medicine or a shrink? Stella doubted he was either. Ricky seemed to want to ask something but it was probably his pride that kept him silent.

"Your mom misses you," Stella said quietly. Ricky lived in the apartment above Stella's with several siblings and his parents. They weren't as worse-off as Stella's family, but money had always been tight because there were so many children to feed. Ricky had disappeared from school about four months ago, now a little more than that, and Stella had thought he had transferred to Village; the small school for delinquents, but then Stella's mother had been talking to Ricky's mother over weak coffee one day and she had told Stella's mother Ricky had been arrested. In their neighborhood, Ricky was the heavyweight champion, and that was a well-defended title. He didn't look it, but when he wanted to be Ricky was very violent. It was masked by his passive nature and long fuse. It took a lot to piss Ricky off but when something did, it was wise not to be within arms' reach. Ricky sighed and leaned his head against his palm, staring evenly at Stella. Stella knew he was battling with himself whether to acknowledge this piece of information or pretend like he didn't care. But Stella knew he did. Ricky was closest with his mother, out of his brothers and sister. He and his father didn't get along. The reason Ricky was so violent was because his father was almost an alcoholic, and he tended to get rough when he'd had a couple of drinks. Ricky was the oldest, and Stella knew he was regretting leaving his three younger brothers and sister and his mother to his father's fury.

"Whatever," Ricky frowned, and Stella shook her head in defeat.

"Pretty pathetic huh," Ricky laughed suddenly. "We had to be this desperate to hang out again."

"We didn't _have_ to be," Stella corrected, laughing slightly. "We just are."

"I'm sorry I stopped hanging out with you," Ricky apologized quietly. Stella shrugged.

"You got your own friends," she said. "Besides, I never really liked you that much anyway." Ricky laughed and stuck out his tongue as Stella laughed happily.

"Come on, we'll get you another dinner tray," Ricky said, grabbing her hand. Stella hopped off the cot and followed him out of the tent. Ricky wrapped an arm around her shoulders and Stella slipped an arm around his waist to balance things out. Inside the mess hall the usual clatter of cutlery on metal trays and tired conversation had picked up again from the earlier disruption. Nobody looked up from their food as Stella went with Ricky to the line, but Zane stared at her unblinkingly before picking up a tray for her behind the counter. Stella glanced around the hall nervously after thanking Zane politely, but couldn't see Mick anywhere. Perhaps one of the councilors was talking to him. Mr. Sir's office adjoined the mess hall but the blinds had been pulled down.

"Hey Stella," Squid called, and Stella turned to their table. She sat down beside Zigzag and started eating her meal. She noticed it wasn't as bad as usual and she had a larger dollop of chocolate pudding than the boys. She glanced up at Zane, who was watching her from the counter, as there were no more boys to serve dinner to, and lifted the corner of her mouth in thanks. Zane nodded ever-so-slightly and Stella turned back to her meal.

Zane was quite good-looking. He would be more handsome if he didn't have a permanently angry expression plastered on his face. He was blonde with darker eyebrows and a strong, square jaw. His hair, when it wasn't slicked back after a shower, fell into his eyes around his jaw. He was shorter than Ricky but strongly built. His arms were toughened by digging for longer than Stella knew and his shoulders and back were muscular too. He was sturdily built.


	3. Chapter 3

Stella thought about home a lot whilst digging the next day. The girls in her class used to pick on her and bully her for the little bit of extra weight she had on her arms and stomach, but Stella knew if any of them were in her position, they would have the shit scared out of them. One girl in particular, Stephanie Dunne, the Queen Bee of her little elite clique, was the bitchiest girl Stella had ever met. She was 'pretty' after several inches of makeup were applied and Daddy paid for the nicest clothes, and she drove a new silver Mercedes convertible. She went out with the captain of the Varsity football team, and she always looked fierce. She was the Regina George of Stella's high school. But no matter how she pencilled her eyebrows to look vindictive, one day's worth of hard labour here and threats like Mick's would send her into a mental breakdown.

Stella liked to think the boys in D-tent were her friends. They certainly didn't go out of their way to include her in things but they didn't ignore her like they did Zero, and didn't make her life hard, like some of the other campers did to the boys in their tents. As she began to dig, Stella imagined each of the D-tent boys pummelling Stephanie and her boyfriend, who had been leaders of many taunts against Stella. For a while it amused her, and as she watched Squid break Travis's jaw, she smiled as she dumped the dirt from her shovel onto a pile. Whatever pain she was suffering, Stephanie and Travis were feeling it six-times worse.

Stella was again the last to finish digging, but it was only a few minutes after Magnet spat into his hole. Stella pulled herself up from the pit and pulled her canteen over her shoulder and leaned her shovel on her shoulder as she walked back to the camp compound. It was late afternoon, and the heat was intolerable. The first thing she wanted to do was shower, so she grabbed her towel and token and stood under the freezing jet for four minutes, all the while looking for signs of Mick. She went back to the tent and pulled a fresh t-shirt on. Laundry had been done again. That meant she had been at Camp Green Lake for six days. It seemed like an eternity. Stella went for dinner and Dr. Pendanski announced there would be a group meeting for Group D after dinner was over in the mess hall. After dinner they went outside and snagged the basketball and hoop while the kitchen staff cleaned up.

Squid had been on his school basketball team. He wasn't tall but he had one hell of a jump-shot. The boys took it in turns shooting baskets and when it was X-Ray's turn, the ball bounced off the backboard and smacked Stella in the face. She fell backwards while the boys all laughed, then with guilty smiles, Squid and Zigzag helped her off the floor. Stella blinked away tears and took the ball from Armpit. She shot at the hoop and was surprised that it went in.

Dr. Pendanski called them into the mess hall and Stella followed Squid and Zigzag inside. The mess hall was dark except for a few low-lit lamps, and the kitchen was quite noisy with the kitchen staff doing the washing up of trays and saucepans. If Stella had looked, she would have seen Zane, Handsome Rob and Mick at the sinks, their hands buried in scalding hot, soapy water.

"We're going to discuss what we're going to do after we leave Camp Green Lake," Dr. Pendanski said, as the boys pulled up chairs and benches. "We're not going to be here forever. We need to prepare for the day we leave here and join the rest of society."

"They're finally gonna let you get out of here, huh," Magnet said, and the boys laughed. Stella smiled appreciatively.

"Okay, José," Dr. Pendanski said. "What do you want to do with your life?" It seemed this question had never really been asked with these boys.

"I don't know," Magnet said, stumped.

"You need to think about that," Dr. Pendanski said sagely. "It's important to have goals. Otherwise you're going to end up right back in jail. What do you like to do?"

"I don't know," Magnet shrugged.

"You must like something," Dr. Pendanski frowned.

"I like animals," Magnet shrugged.

"That's what got Magnet here in the first place," X-Ray laughed, and the other boys chuckled.

"Man, it's criminal the way they keep 'em locked up in cages," Magnet said sadly.

"No, José, what you did was criminal," Dr. Pendanski corrected.

"No, no, tell 'em, Magnet," Squid frowned. "They wanted a thousand bucks for just one puppy."

"What?" X-Ray exclaimed.

"Yeah," Magnet sighed. "I woulda made it out, if my pocket didn't start barking." Stella laughed.

"You boys get one life," Dr. Pendanski stated. It didn't occur to Stella to correct him on the 'boys' part. "And so far, you've all done a pretty good job of screwing it up." Everyone sobered a little bit.

"Well, does anyone know of any jobs that involve animals?" Dr. Pendanski asked.

"Veterinarian," Armpit offered.

"That's right," said Dr. Pendanski.

"He could work in a zoo," Zigzag said, but Stella shook her head.

"They're caged animals," she said.

"What do you suggest Stella?" Dr. Pendanski asked. Stella sighed and thought.

"He could be a zoologist or a marine biologist," Stella said. "He could start studying the lake animals." The boys laughed.

"Don't you need a lot of money to be those?" Jose asked, troubled. Stella shrugged.

"If your grades are good, you could apply for scholarships," she suggested, but the look on Magnet's face suggested he was a poor student.

"I'm not saying it's going to be easy," Dr. Pendanski said. "Nothing in life is easy. But that's no reason to give up. You'll be surprised what you can accomplish if you set your mind to it. Even Zero here isn't completely worthless." The small smile that had graced Zero's face at Magnet's story had vanished.

"What about you, Zero? What do you like to do?" Zero glared evenly at Dr. Pendanski. "You just won't talk to me, will you?"

"He only talks to Stella, y' know," Armpit said. Stella winked at Zero.

"I like to dig holes," Zero said mechanically. Dr. Pendanski frowned at him for a long time before turning to Stella.

"What about you Stella? What do you like?"

"Besides us," Squid added, and Stella smiled.

"I don't know," she sighed. "I never really thought about it… I like to write."

"Does anyone know what Stella might to later on?" Doc asked.

"Journalist," Zigzag offered.

"A reporter," Armpit said, and a small argument broke out over them being the same thing.

"An author," Squid said. "Your letters are always long."

"That's cos she knows more words than you do," Armpit teased. The boys all laughed but Squid glared at Armpit.

"Why don't you start writing now?" Doc suggested. "Give the boys something to look forward to." The boys all encouraged her but Stella just smiled embarrassedly.

Dr. Pendanski excused them, and as it was almost dark, they returned to the tent. This was Stella's favourite time of the day. After dinner, the boys all stripped out of their jumpsuits and lounged on their cots, talking about everything and anything. Stella lay on her cot, her head propped up on her arm, and observed. Zero, as usual, had turned to the tent wall.

"You know why we're so hot, don't you? Global warming," X-Ray said.

"Yeah, a hole in the o-zone," Squid said. "It's always right above my head."

"The hole is _in _your head," Zigzag laughed. Stella was sure that even Zero was smiling quietly at the wall. Zigzag and Squid started a playful tussle on the floor, and laughing at them, Stella was hit by the inspiration needed by any author to write a successful story. She pulled her stationery set from her crate and scrawled the title across the top of a piece of paper; 'Holes'. Until the lights turned off, Stella kept writing, not letting the boys read it until she was satisfied it was worth reading. Even then, she wasn't satisfied they would agree with her portrayals of them. She told the boys about her mother's inventions, and about her grandmother. She left out the part where Grandma had made Ricky cry to save his dignity.

_All my life, I seem to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. My grandmother, Sarah Hargrove, daughter of the first Stella Hargrove __in our family, claims it's all because of a hundred-and-fifty year old curse. I don't really believe in curses, but when things go wrong, it helps if you can have someone else to blame. And for me, things go wrong a lot. Grandma says our destiny is sealed. Could a pair of shoes falling from the sky really be part of my destiny? My mother, Sandy Hargrove, is an inventor, and for the last few years, she's been trying to find a cure, for foot-odour. _

"_It's all because of your no-good-dirty-rotten-money-st__ealing-great-great-grandmother," Grandma always curses._

"_There's no curse on this family," my daddy used to say. If there's no curse on our family, why'd he die in a car accident before my tenth birthday?_

"_There is on the _women_ in this family," my Momma always contradicted. _

"'_If only, if only', the woodpecker sighs," my Grandma used to sing, "'the bark on the trees was as soft as the skies.' While the wolf waits below, hungry and lonely, he cries to the moon, 'If only, if only.'"_

"_Please don't sing that song,"__ Daddy used to get upset when Momma and Grandma used to sing it at the dinner table. "Please don't sing that song, not at my table."_

"_Daddy, relax, I don't believe in the family curse anyway," __I used to tell him. He smiled, only for a little while before my parents had to pay the bills and send me to a good school. _

"_We're gonna need a damn-good lawyer," Grandma said, when I got arrested. _

"_We can't afford a lawyer, Ma," Momma sighed._

"_We don't need a lawyer," I said comfortingly. "I'll just tell them the truth." _

For some reason, Stella woke up again during the night. She couldn't figure out why; she had grown accustomed to Armpit's snoring and X-Ray's farting! She thought maybe an animal was creeping around underneath the tent; it wasn't unusual. But the sound was something she recognised. She used to hear it emitting from her mother's bedroom after her father died. Somebody in the tent was crying. Stella sat up; Squid sat on his bed, sniffling miserably.

"What's wrong?" Stella asked quietly, so the other boys didn't wake up. Squid jumped visibly but glared at her.

"Nothing, _Mom_, go back to sleep," he growled, and hid his head under the blanket. Stella frowned but lay back, and soon fell asleep.

"Come on, Stella, get up," Zigzag said, slapping her butt, part of his daily wake-up ritual for her. Stella grumbled and fell off the cot, reaching subconsciously for her jumpsuit.

After she dug her seventh hole, Stella went for her shower and fought sleep as she picked up her book and walked into the rec room. The same boys were still fighting over the foosball table and arguing over the makeshift bowling alley. As she walked past the foosball table one of the boys backed away without looking behind him and sent Stella right into Zane's lap. He jumped, startled from half-sleep, and had she been anyone else, Stella knew he would have picked a fight with her, but he just took her book, glanced at the title and handed it back, helping her back on her feet. Stella nodded and walked over to where Zigzag was watching the broken television set, arguing with Armpit over which channel to watch. In Stella's view the static made anything look the same.

"Hey, hey, I'm watching that," Ricky said angrily, but Armpit broke the dial and set it on the set.

"Not today, you're not," he said, and Ricky punched the television set in frustration.

"Look, you broke it," he growled, and smacked the set again. Stella curled up next to Squid on the under-stuffed sofa and found her page. Some time passed and suddenly a commotion started over by the foosball table. Looking up from her book, Stella saw the table had been pushed aside, as well as some chairs, to make way for Zane and Mick, who were throwing punches with excessive force.

"Oh shit," Squid swore in a low voice, as the other boys all turned to watch, gathering around the two in a circle. Several started shouting. Stella marked her page and unfolded from the couch. She waded through the boys until she was on the inner ring and stepped between the two aggravated teenagers.

"Hey! You sit down," she ordered, shoving Mick into a chair. "You sit down!" she ordered Zane, who had tried to get past her. "You make a scene, the councillors will get involved and the Warden will come down hard on us. Save your energy for digging." She glanced between the two boys, keeping a hand pressed to Zane's chest to keep him from moving past her.

"Keep that _punk_ away from me," Zane spat at Handsome Rob, and he shoved Mick out of the rec room. The boys all resumed their normal activities before one of the other councillors arrived after hearing the noise. Everyone remained cool until he left and afterwards the dinner bell rang.

"Come on Mom," Squid said, slapping her back as he walked past her.

"Mom," Zigzag called from outside, waving her to come outside.

"So I'm Mom?" Stella asked Zero, who remained silent by her elbow. He shrugged. _Well it's better than Barfbag_, she thought, and Zero followed her to the mess hall.

"Come on Mom," X-Ray said, tugging at her sleeve. Stella followed Zigzag outside and soon they were out on the lake. The days had meshed together. Stella didn't know what day it was but knew she had been at Camp Green Lake for one week. Stella had learned to wait for the water truck before drinking the last of her water. Dr. Pendanski came with the water truck and also brought their lunches. They had bologna and cheese sandwiches, wonderfully fresh apples, and a large chocolate chip cookie each. Stella had been moved up in the water truck line, in front of Zero.

"Stella," someone said, but Stella just kept digging.

"Yo, her name's Mom now," X-Ray said. Stella beamed at him.

"Well, whoever you are," Doc said, "we got a postal delivery for Stella Hargrove. Wherever she is, tell her to go to the supply shed to pick it up." Stella looked up, beaming. She dug as quickly as she could, barely chewing her food, and finished before Magnet. She spat into her hole and Magnet exclaimed in indignation as she followed Zigzag back to camp.

"What are you reading these days?" Ricky asked as they walked. Stella shrugged. "Come on, you know I'm reading _vicariously_ through you." Stella laughed softly.

"Shakespeare," Stella sighed. "Hamlet."

"You'll have to read to us," Ricky decided. Stella rolled her eyes. She draped her arms over her shovel held across her shoulders and sighed. She didn't even care anymore. She went for a shower in her underwear and pulled a white wife-beater of X-Ray's on, without a bra, tying the upper half of her jumpsuit around her hips the way Zigzag had taught her to do to keep the arms out of the way. Shoving her hat back on her braided hair, Stella skipped over to the supply shed as Doc had directed. She pulled the screen door open and stepped inside. Zane glanced over his shoulder, straightening the newly washed extra jumpsuits.

"Dr. Pendanski said something came for me in the mail," Stella said, and Zane nodded. He reached behind the counter and produced an already-opened cardboard box. Stella didn't mind it being searched. Zane pulled several t-shirts and books from the box and returned it behind the desk, producing a letter from his pocket.

"This came separately," he said, and handed it to her. Stella took it and recognized the handwriting. It was from Grandma.

"How's your neck?" Zane asked, without making eye contact, as Stella checked her t-shirts. She shrugged. Zane reached out slowly and gently moved the makeshift bandage Ricky had given her. "It's purple." Stella sighed. "Mick's a punk."

"I figured when you started fighting with him," Stella smiled.

"Just treat him like a lizard; if you don't bother him he won't bother you," Zane advised. Stella nodded. "He's leaving next week." Stella was surprised at the feeling of relief that passed over her.

"Why?"

"He's transferring to the adult prison," Zane said quietly. Stella was surprised at his gentle voice. It was low and husky and soft. Stella nodded and picked up her books.

"Hey, um…" Zane began, and Stella glanced over her shoulder.

"You've got _Lord of the Rings_ in there," he said, nodding to her stack of books, "when you've finished it, could I borrow it?" Stella glanced at him, then at the book and took it from the pile.

"Here," she said, handing it to him. Zane smiled; it was a beautiful smile; bright white teeth, straight and even.

"Thank you," he said politely, mirroring her politeness. Stella smiled and walked off back to the tent.

Dear Stella, your letter makes me feel like one of the other grandmothers sending letters to their grandchildren at summer camps. I'm so proud of you making the best of a bad situation, and I hope you're not getting into any more trouble. Your mother says she's on the brink of a breakthrough. I do hope so Stella, because the landlord is threatening to evict us, because of the odor. Don't worry about us, though. Keep your mind on staying out of trouble. Sooner than you realize, you'll be home with us. I feel really bad for the little old lady who lived in the shoe, because it must have smelled really bad!- Stella laughed- Your mother sends her love, Grandma Sarah.

"What are you laughing at?" someone asked, and Stella glanced up at Zero. She had only heard him speak once, and found he was younger than she thought; his voice was much higher than Squid's or Zigzag's.

"Oh, just something my Grandma wrote," Stella shrugged.

"What did she say?" Zero asked interestedly.

"Um…she says," Stella frowned at the letter, "she says, 'I feel really bad for the little old lady who lives in the shoe, because it must have smelled really bad'." Zero just stared at her with his angry face.

"You know, the nursery rhyme," Stella prompted, but Zero's expression didn't change. "You've never heard it?"

"I've never been to school," Zero said quietly. He glanced at Grandma's pretty cursive. "I don't know how to read." Stella stared openly. Zero seemed uncomfortable about letting her know too much. "Can you teach me?" Stella became uncomfortable. Sure, she was well-educated. She loved English; it was her best subject, and Grandma always said she had a very adult writing style.

"Um…I don't know if I can," she said, putting the letter back in its carefully-opened envelope. "Maybe in a few days…give me time to think about how to teach you." Momentarily, the most beautiful smile spread across Zero's face, like a great Jack o' lantern. He nodded and ran off out of the tent, leaving Stella slightly stunned. She sighed and stuffed her new t-shirts into her crate with her books. She picked up _Hamlet_ and went to the rec room before dinner.

Armpit, flanked by the other boys, exited the rec room, dancing. Stella saw him and laughed as he strutted down the steps to the veranda and over to her.

"Look at this guy," the boys all laughed. Armpit spun and flung his arms up. The boys all fell away.

"Oh, god, Armpit, put 'em down," Zigzag said, wrenching his arm down with his collar pulled up over his nose. Stella helped Squid off the floor and he draped his arm around Stella as they walked over to the mess hall.


	4. Chapter 4

One hundred and ten years ago, Green Lake was the largest lake in Texas. It was full of clear, cool water and sparkled like a giant emerald in the sun. In the springtime it was particularly beautiful, when the peach trees blossomed along the shore in pink and rose-coloured blooms. There would be a town picnic every year on the Fourth of July. The people of Green Lake would play games, dance, sing and swim in the lake to keep cool. Prizes were awarded for the best peach pie and peach jam. A special prize was given every year to Miss Katherine Barlow for her spiced peaches. No one else tried to make spiced peaches, because they all knew none would be as delicious as hers. Every year Miss Katherine would pick bushels of peaches and preserve them in jars with cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, and other spices which she kept secret. The jarred peaches should have lasted all winter, but they never did. It was said that Green Lake, Texas was 'heaven on earth' and that Miss Katherine's peaches were 'the work of an angel'.

Miss Katherine was a young widow with a small son. She preferred to be called by Miss by the children she taught in the small, one-room schoolhouse. She was the only teacher in the town. The schoolhouse was old even for Green Lake standards. The roof leaked, the windows wouldn't open and the door hung crooked on its hinges. She was a wonderful teacher, full of knowledge and full of life. The children loved her.

She taught classes in the evening for the adults, and many adults loved her as well. She was a beautiful lady, with pretty blue eyes and long curly blonde hair. Her classes were full of young men, who were a lot more interested in the teacher than they were in getting an education. But all they ever got was an education!

One such young man was Trout Walker. His real name was Charles Walker, but everyone called him Trout because he had an incurable foot-fungus. It was the same foot-fungus that would inflict the major-league baseball star Clyde Livingston one-hundred-and-ten years later. At least Clyde Livingston showered every day!

Everyone in Green Lake expected Miss Katherine the pretty, young widow, to marry Trout Walker. He was rich and she was handsome. Trout Walker's father was the richest man in the county. His family owned most of the peach trees and all of the land on the east side of the lake.

Trout was disrespectful; he would turn up to lessons late and spend the entire time talking loudly over Miss Katherine while she tried to teach the other men. A lot of men in the town were not educated. They spent their time working hard on farms and ranches. That was why she was there- to teach them. But Trout Walker didn't want to learn. He was proud of his stupidity.

A man named Sam lived in Green Lake also. Since he was a black man he wasn't allowed to attend the evening classes with the rest of the adults. Sam picked onions. He told Miss Katherine of his onion field across the lake where the onions grew year-round and the water in the stream ran uphill.

"Onions, sweet, fresh onions," Sam would shout, leading his cart and the donkey, Mary Lou, to the green by the schoolhouse. Sam had strong arms and had a rowboat. Once or twice a week Sam would row across the lake to his onion field and pick a fresh batch. Miss Katherine traded Sam a jar of her spiced peaches for a burlap sack of Sam's onions.

When the season changed, and the rain-clouds started rolling in over Green Lake, the children in the schoolhouse would sit amid pots and pans that caught the cold raindrops. Sam arrived outside the schoolhouse one afternoon after the children were excused. Miss Katherine was wiping her desk with a sodden cloth. Sam looked up at the roof.

"I can fix that," he said softly. Miss Katherine laughed quietly.

"Sam, are you going to tell me your onions can cure a leaky roof?" she teased.

"Nah, I'm just good with my hands," Sam said. "I built my own boat, you know. I needed to get across the lake to my onion field."

"Well then I guess you'd be in real trouble if your boat leaked," Miss Katherine smiled prettily.

"I tell you what," Sam proposed a deal, "I'll fix that roof, in exchange for three jars of your spiced peaches." Miss Katherine didn't have much money to spend elsewhere other than herself and her son.

"It's a deal," she smiled. Sam worked on the roof after the children's school was out and before the adults arrived. When it was finished, Miss Katherine complained the windows wouldn't open, and she and the children would like a breeze now and again. When the windows were finished, she told Sam of the crooked door. Miss Katherine gave Sam more jars of her spiced peaches when the schoolhouse was painted.

But Miss Katherine's heart was broken. The rain poured down, and despite the newly repaired roof, tears dropped from Miss Katherine's eyes.

"I can fix that," Sam said quietly. Miss Katherine smiled and kissed him. Outside, Trout Walker saw them through the window.

Word soon spread that the schoolteacher had kissed the onion-picker. A mob, led by Trout Walker, destroyed the schoolhouse with fire. Miss Katherine ran to the jail, where the Sheriff was drinking his way through a bottle of whiskey.

"Give me a kiss," he growled, wiping his mouth. He tried to pull her closer.

"You're drunk," Miss Katherine said in disgust.

"I always get drunk before a hanging," the Sheriff slurred.

"If you hang him," Miss Katherine threatened quietly, tears splashing onto her cheeks, "then you'd better hang me too, because _I kissed him back_."

"It ain't against the law for you to kiss him," the sheriff said, "just for him to kiss you. Give me a kiss- you kissed the onion-picker." Miss Katherine snatched her hand away from the sheriff's grip and ran out of the jail, to the waterfront where she could see Sam in his little wooden rowboat. She could hear, with cold-dread, before she saw it, the Walker's new motorised boat.

"Sam!" The shot of a rifle punctured the air and punctured Miss Katherine's heart.

The next day Miss Katherine's son disappeared. Miss Katherine walked calmly into the jail, dressed prettily in red, and took her hat off.

"Mornin' sheriff," she said politely. "You still want that kiss?" The sheriff, with a terrible hangover, smirked. Miss Katherine produced a pistol from the pocket of her skirt and shot the sheriff. She calmly applied a fresh coat of red lipstick and kissed the sheriff. The people of Green Lake watched her ride off on one of her horses, and in the distance someone met her on the top of a hill.

For the next twenty years, Kissin' Kate Barlow was the most feared outlaw in the mid-west.


	5. Chapter 5

"Hey look!" Squid gasped. "A cloud."

"Where, man?" Zigzag sighed, dumping a shovelful of dirt onto one of his piles.

"Right there," Squid pointed, unscrewing the cap of his canteen. He had taken his hat off and was working with a t-shirt wrapped over his head. X-Ray adjusted his glasses.

"Maybe it'll move in front of the sun," Zigzag gasped, squinting in the sunlight.

"Come on little cloud," Magnet coaxed, "you can do it."

"Please, all I'm asking for is just a _little _shade," Armpit pleaded.

"The Warden owns the shade," Stella grunted, hauling a rock twice the size of her head out of the bottom of her hole.

"Maybe we'll get lucky," Ricky sighed. "Maybe we'll get some clouds. And it'll rain for forty days and forty nights."

"Yeah," Armpit laughed. "And we'll have to build an arc/ark (A.N. I can't remember how to spell it!) "And get two of each animal."

"Ha! Two scorpions, two rattlesnakes, two Yellow-Spotted Lizards," X-Ray laughed. Stella turned over the soil in the bottom of her hole.

"Two buzzards," she added, nodding to X-Ray.

"Yeah, but who do you pick to take with you?" Squid asked her. Stella raised an eyebrow.

"There has to be one girl and one boy to repopulate the world," Zigzag said. Squid nodded. Stella laughed and picked up her shovel. She turned the soil over again and heard an odd noise; a metallic _chink_.

"No comment," she called from the bottom of her hole, and the boys laughed. She knelt and fumbled in the dirt until she felt something hard, smooth and cool under her skin. Straightening, she frowned at what she had found; it was a tube, golden in colour, and very old, with one tapered end and one closed.

"What've you got there, Mom?" Magnet asked, crawling out of his hole. Stella glanced up, motioning him to be quiet. The boys in C-tent were digging beside their group.

"I don't know," she muttered. Magnet wiped the sweat off his forehead with his gloves and frowned at the little golden tube. "Hey X." Magnet waved him over. "I think I might've found something." X-Ray hopped out of his hole; Armpit tried once, but his stout figure prohibited it. He tried again and Squid and Zigzag followed him to Stella's hole. Stella handed X-Ray the tube and he squinted behind his filthy glasses, holding it up into the light.

"Oh, looks like an old shotgun shell or something," he sighed disinterestedly. Squid took the tube and examined it.

"Nah, it's too skinny to be a shotgun shell," he said, weighing it in his hands. "Nah, that's not a shotgun shell." Stella didn't want to know how Squid knew what a shotgun looked, felt or weighed like.

"It's not a shotgun shell," Stella agreed. She had seen movies. Stella took the tube back and examined it closer, cleaning it with a few precious drops of water from her canteen.

"Hey, look at this," Stella said. "D'you see that little heart? And those letters inside it- K.B." Stella knew those initials from somewhere. Zigzag snatched the tube from her hand, and nodded.

"Yeah," he said breathlessly, "that's Keith Beringer."

"Man, who is that?" Armpit asked indignantly.

"He was in our geometry class last year," Stella said automatically.

"Yeah, Zig, it must really belong to him, huh," Magnet shook his head. X-Ray took possession of the tube.

"Well, I might as well show it to Doc," he sighed. "Maybe I'll get the rest of the day off."

"Your hole's almost dug," Stella said, frowning in slight anger. For once, she had been in the right place at the right time. And yet again, the situation had turned on her.

"Yeah, so?" X-Ray said threateningly.

"Well…why don't you show it to Doc tomorrow, when he comes to fill our canteens," she suggested, covering for her annoyance. "You'll get the whole day off instead of a couple of hours." X-Ray stared up at her.

"Thanks Mom," he nodded, pocketing the tube. "That's good thinking." Behind him, Squid nodded in a satisfied way at X, but gave Stella a look that said '_Doormat_'. What was she supposed to do? She didn't want her stay at Camp Green Lake to be made even harder than it already was. Although, having a day off would be a nice reward for surviving so long without incident in an all boys' camp. Even the Warden must surely acknowledge she deserved _something _for that accomplishment.

"Pretty smart, Mom," Squid said, tapping the brim of her hat.

Stella watched X-Ray all that day.

"Stella, if the wind changes your face'll stay like that," Squid said, plopping down beside her on the veranda in the shade, propping himself up on his arms. He stared at her and Stella sighed.

"You're pissed at X-Ray," he guessed, and Stella shrugged noncommittally. "'s alright," he said. "He'll just be hurtin' when he comes back with us." Another shrug. Squid was called over to the basketball net and Stella took a stroll around the camp. A delivery truck had arrived in the late afternoon and was being emptied into the supply shed and the mess hall. Zane and his boys were hauling crates out of the back without supervision because they were trusted as much as any of the delinquents at Camp Green Lake could be. Stella was walking past the inside of the truck without paying attention when she was almost run over by a boy carrying four crates stacked on top of each other.

"Whoa!" she said in surprise. The boy stopped, and the crates wobbled dangerously. "Here, let me help you." Stella took the top crate and was surprised that the contents didn't seem heavy to her at all. Zane's face appeared above the crates. He glanced at her and nodded to her to follow him. He walked off quickly and Stella dawdled behind, wondering if Mick was anywhere near. She walked into the mess hall and was about to go into the kitchen when she saw the three chief boys of C-tent bent over one of the crates. Zane lifted something out of the box- it was one of the plastic tubs of Mr. Sir's candies, and hid it inside his pocket. The other boys did likewise with a bag of sunflower seeds and a loaf of bread. She hung back and pretended to just be walking inside, banging into one of the tables. The boys looked up as she swore softly and shifted the weight on her hip, picking up a loaf of bread from the floor. Luckily it was wrapped in plastic so none of the muck from the desert stuck to it.

"Where d'you want this?" Stella asked. Zane took the crate from her, and she made serious eye-contact to relay her disapproval.

"I didn't think you'd be done with your hole already," Handsome Rob frowned. Stella shrugged and glanced at Zane.

"I guess people can surprise you," she said quietly, turning around and heading back to the tent. She lay on her bed, frowning at the canvas ceiling.

"Why're you so serious?" Zigzag asked, plopping down on her cot beside her.

"No reason," she sighed. Ricky raised an eyebrow.

"What?" Stella laughed softly. "Only you're allowed to brood." Ricky shrugged.

"Me and Zero," he corrected softly as Zero entered the tent quietly. Stella nodded and glanced over at Zero. He turned his head to look at her and turned back to stare up at the ceiling.

Stella had been thinking about Zero's request. She was too tired, but at the same time she knew she couldn't say no to him. He always looked so angry, but Stella knew he was just _disappointed_ with everyone, like he knew they all could do better, could all be better people. Like he knew _he_ could be a better person if only someone helped him.

"Hey Zero," she said quietly, once Ricky had left the tent after a few minutes of quiet conversation with close proximity. Stella was slightly breathless just from Ricky being so close. Zero glanced at her. "You still want to learn how to read?"

It had been decided that Stella would teach Zero the alphabet, five letters a day for the next week, until the fifth day when she would teach him six. Zero worked out the math quickly; he wasn't stupid.

"There you are, Rex," Doc said pointedly. "Good morning, Theodore."

"Man, it's Armpit. I don't know no fool called Theodore," Armpit growled.

"Well, I don't know no fool named Armpit," Doc sighed. "Here's your water, whoever you are."

"Hey Doc!" X-Ray called from his hole. Stella had watched him toss the golden tube into his hole as he returned from the water truck. "I think I've found something. Come here for a second, I think I've found something." Dr. Pendanski handed Squid his empty canteen back and walked over to X-Ray's hole. Several of the boys surrounding them became interested and hauled themselves off their dirt piles to gather closer.

"It looks like a golden bullet or something," X-Ray gasped excitedly. Dr. Pendanski took the tube and examined it. "It's nice, right? Do I get the day off now?"

"You just might," Dr. Pendanski promised. "I'm gonna call the Warden." He picked his radio from his belt. There was a sharp buzz of static and Dr. Pendanski spoke into the walkie-talkie.

"Hey Lou, you better get down here," Dr. Pendanski advised. "I think we've got something." Stella leaned on her shovel outside her hole and watched with a dissatisfied expression.

"We got something nice," X-Ray added, grinning.

"_We got something nice_," the other boys mocked, returning to their holes. None of them were too happy for X-Ray. They all resented that he would get the day off digging.

"We've got something nice," Doc added. Dr. Pendanski refilled their canteens and sent them working again, advising X-Ray not to strain himself, and in the distance they saw the white Chrysler coming across the desert, raising clouds of dust behind it.

As the Chrysler stopped just short of their little area, Stella could sense the tension from all of the boys, in particular X-Ray, who watched the car doors open with magnified eyes. They all watched the door open and the person step out of the driver's seat, pretending to be doing something constructive with their shovels. Dr. Pendanski patted the tube against his palm as the Warden walked over to him.

"Oh my," Armpit sighed, shaking his head as he turned back to his hole.

Stella didn't even know she wasn't the only female at Camp Green Lake until she saw the Warden. The Warden was a tall, slim woman in her late forties, with long denim-clad legs, a loose navy, rose-printed blouse with the sleeves rolled up past her elbows, Aviator sunglasses like Stella's, and a white cowboy hat. Her red hair was curly, and as vibrant as the red nail-polish she painted on her extremely long nails. She took her sunglasses off and took the tube from Dr. Pendanski. Mr. Sir stood behind her, eagerly looking over her shoulder. Stella saw the blissful expression on Dr. Pendanski's face at having produced something seemingly so important to the Warden. Stella couldn't figure out why it was important. The Warden smiled at Dr. Pendanski and walked over to X-Ray's hole.

"This where you found it?" she asked. She had a rural Texan accent, even worse than Squid's low slur.

"Dr. Pendanski, drive X-Ray back to camp," the Warden said cheerfully. Her silver hoop-earrings glinted in the sun as they swung about her face. "Give him double shower tokens, and a snack." The last word seemed to resound around D-tent. Stella glared at X-Ray as he grinned. She exchanged an angry look with Squid, who just shook his head and returned to shoveling.

"But first," the Warden said, "fill everyone's canteens."

"I've already filled them," Dr. Pendanski said proudly. The Warden turned sharply to him. Stella could see her dark brown eyes under the brim of her hat, her hands on her hips.

"Excuse me?"

"I- I had already filled them when you drove up in the car," Dr. Pendanski said. Stella had experience with rather formidable women. _Wrong move_, she thought, as if she was a spectator at a chess match and these two were the opposing armies.

"Excuse me? Did I ask you when you last filled them?" the Warden asked, putting her sunglasses back on. Dr. Pendanski's cheesy smile didn't fade.

"No, you didn't," he answered.

"Excuse me," the Warden interrupted. "Now these fine boys have been working hard." _Girl_, Stella thought with a sigh. "Don't you think it just might be possible that they have taken a drink, since you last filled their canteens?"

"It's possible," Dr. Pendanski said, glancing away. Mr. Sir was nearly wetting himself laughing beside Stella's hole.

"Mom!" the Warden called, and Stella glanced up from shoveling. "Can you come over here please?" Wondering how she knew her name, Stella hopped out of her hole. X-Ray glanced at her nervously. She wasn't about to betray anyone. If she said anything, they'd all get punished because they all knew what had happened.

"Come on, come on over," Mr. Sir said, hussling her out of her hole. Stella walked over to the Warden, taking her hat off.

"Did you, by any chance, take a drink, since he filled your canteen?" the Warden asked. Stella glanced at Doc. She didn't want to get him in trouble, but she knew what women like the Warden were like. Stella stared at the freckles splashed across the Warden's sharp little nose.

"I-I might've had some," she nodded slowly.

"Thank you," the Warden smiled a little too sweetly. "May I have your canteen please?" Stella went to her hole, picked up her canteen and as she turned back, noticed the Warden taking in her appearance. She produced the canteen and the Warden took it.

"Thank you," the Warden smiled. Mr. Sir giggled. Doc sighed in disbelief. The Warden took the canteen and shook it violently in front of Dr. Pendanski's face. Stella thought perhaps she was imagining she was throttling Dr. Pendanski, or one of the boys.

"Can you hear the empty spaces?" the Warden asked.

"Yes, I can hear," Dr. Pendanski said shortly.

"Fill it," the Warden ordered, slamming the canteen into Doc's chest like he did with Zero's. "And if that's too much trouble, you can grab a shovel and Mom here can fill the canteens." Dr. Pendanski took the canteen, humiliated, and filled it.

"Alright, Armpit, Squid, get them wheelbarrows out of the truck," Mr. Sir barked.

"Zero, you take over X-Ray's hole," the Warden called. "Mom, you will assist Squid, Zigzag and Zero, and Magnet, you'll be with Armpit. We're gonna dig this dirt twice."

"Y'all be good now," X-Ray waved from the front seat of the truck. Stella bit her thumb at him as Dr. Pendanski drove off to the camp.

"And get C and F over here," the Warden called.

"Get C and F over here," Mr. Sir yelled, and the surrounding groups migrated towards them. Stella watched the Warden admire the golden tube, then kiss it and close it in her hand tenderly.

"Come on boys, let's see it," the Warden coached them, "let's use those muscles.

"Keep it up, keep it up," Mr. Sir shouted, keeping up their pace.

"This is a special day," the Warden shouted happily. "I got a good feeling about today." The boys were all called to work around the area where X-Ray had 'found' the golden tube. The ground was now an underground network of slim passages and 'rooms' with archways above made of the dirt. Stella glanced up and the Warden was raking through a wheelbarrow with a pitchfork.

"I'm feeling some double shower tokens, boys," Mr. Sir said encouragingly.

"We're on steaks for dinner tonight," the Warden teased. Stella ran with the wheelbarrow up the wooden ladder past the Warden.

"You're doing fine," the Warden encouraged. "No hurry; we don't wanna miss anything." Stella emptied the wheelbarrow with some assistance from some of the other boys and she saw the Warden and Mr. Sir _dancing_ as they passed each other, doing the fox-trot. Stella stared over the desert at the small boulder that marked the true origin of the golden tube.

The end of the day saw Stella washing the Warden's car. The Warden had asked her to do it for her, and Stella never said 'No' to the Warden.

"Oh, that's just not fair," Squid groaned, as he saw Stella leaning over the hood of the car with a sopping wet wife-beater, her hair scraggly from the water. Stella worked on the hood with a sponge, grinning tauntingly at Squid as he looked her up and down closely. "Hey Zig, check this out." Ricky walked over, and usually Stella wasn't nervous about the boys seeing through her top, but this time was different.

"What? D'you want me to dance?" she asked Squid, who shrugged and put his toothpick back in his mouth. X-Ray had been sleeping when they got back to the tent. Magnet joined their little cluster, watching Stella wash the Warden's car, and soon several other boys noticed and drifted over, just gawking at her. She wiped the windows with a cloth so they wouldn't dry with streaks, hosing the rims down and wiping the number plate. There was a chorus of '_Aw_'s' as she put the hose and bucket, sponge, window cleaner and wax away in the large barn where Mr. Sir also kept his truck. Stella shook her head as she strutted back to the tent, and the little group disbanded now that the entertainment was gone. Zero was waiting inside the tent for her. Stella changed into a new t-shirt and her pajama bottoms, which her mother had sent in the mail, and tucked them into her cowboy boots. She frowned at them. The Warden wore cowboy boots too.

She and Zero had gone over the alphabet together the night before, and Stella started on the first five letters. She wrote them out, in capital and lower-case, and had Zero copy them below. Zero's face contorted with concentration as he held the pencil between his thumb and forefinger, mimicking the way Stella wrote.

"Okay…A, B, C…good," Stella smiled as he finished the lower-case 'e'. "You're getting the hang of this really quickly." Zero smiled, a big jack o' lantern grin.

"Do you want to learn your name?" Stella sighed as she wrote 'ZERO' on the page. There were three unfamiliar letters but Zero copied them, except for the 'R'.

"No, the 'R' has to kick out," Stella said, rubbing out the capital 'R'. "See, that's an 'R'. Okay, this next one's easy." Zero finished writing his name and smiled at his accomplishment.

"You know, Zero's not my real name," he said quietly, frowning at the word on the piece of paper. Stella wasn't surprised, well, not very much.

"But even Pendanski calls you Zero," she frowned.

"My name's Hector," Zero said. "Hector Zeroni." Stella smiled and held out her hand.

"It's nice to meet you Hector Zeroni," she smiled.

"It's nice to meet you," Hector smiled. Stella wrote out his formal name, using the spelling of 'Zeroni' like her grandmother used to write when she asked about it. Hector didn't correct her. He might not know how to spell other words, but he knew what his name looked like. Stella yawned widely as Hector copied out his name time after time. He glanced at her.

"We'll pick up where we left off tomorrow," he promised, and, hearing the familiar D-tent voices, he scuttled over to his cot. Stella cleared away the papers they had used and hid them at the bottom of her pile of stationery her grandmother had refilled. Stella fell asleep almost instantly, not even seeing Zigzag and Squid kiss her cheek lightly before they went to bed under cover of darkness.

"You know, the ancient Mesopotamians, they didn't _have_ shovels," Dr. Pendanski said.

"Glad to have you back X-Ray," the Warden smiled, as she and Mr. Sir appeared out of one of the tunneled corridors. "We could use your sharp eye."

"Hello Warden," Dr. Pendanski tried to kiss up to her in an attempt to get back in her good books.

"Hi-" X-Ray was cut off as he was bounced out of the way by Armpit.

"Ma'am, I think I found something," he said, producing what Stella recognized as the dial for the broken television in the rec room. The boys clustered around and watched them. Squid grinned at Stella.

"Are you trying to be funny?" the Warden asked, holding the dial up. "Or do you just think I'm stupid?" _Trick question_, Stella thought. _Pit, don't answer, you lose either way._

"Uh- No, ma'am, I wasn't trying to be funny," Armpit stuttered.

"Excuse me?"

"Well Armpit, your little joke just lost you a week's worth of shower privileges," Mr. Sir growled.

"Aw!" D-tent groaned in disgust.

"Damn," Squid cursed. Armpit looked slightly ashamed.

"Everyone, back to work," the Warden ordered, glaring at Armpit.

"Man, you're sleeping outside," Squid declared in disgust, pointing at Armpit.

"You heard her, back to work," Dr. Pendanski ordered.

The searching went on for another day, and Stella was still tense about what she had seen Zane and his friends do in the kitchens. Several times, as they were working so close together, Zane had tried to catch her eye, but Stella just went on hacking with a pick-ax at the wall of the 'room'. As a rule, Zane now ordered Mick as far away from any place Stella was. A threat last night in the rec room after showers suggesting that 'lock the doors; we'll get the Prom Queen _impregnated_' from him had given him a black eye and a broken nose that still remained untreated.

Two things were certain; Zero was not stupid, and the reason they were digging holes was because the Warden was looking for something. And whatever it was, they weren't finding it.

"Four days, four long days and this is all you jack-asses got to show for it," the Warden shouted from above them on level ground. Stella was working with Zigzag and Squid beneath where Mr. Sir and Doc were talking in low voices.

"Probably ain't nothing down there," Mr. Sir growled, "or we'd have found it by now."

"I wouldn't tell the Queen Bee that," Dr. Pendanski advised.

"I'm not on stupid pills," Mr. Sir said in an 'I'm-not-three-years-old' voice.

"What are you jawin' about?" the Warden shouted across the void. "You can't get 'em to dig any faster, you can grab a shovel and join 'em. How 'bout that, huh?" Mr. Sir practically danced.

"Get to work! This ain't no kindergartners in the sandbox," he shouted hurriedly. "I wanna see some effort here." Stella hacked at her wall and Squid dug away the dirt she let loose. His face was so covered in dirt that the only parts of his face recognizable were his lips, which were still pink from water, and his eyes. He looked like a reversed-panda, especially with his head wrapped with a t-shirt. Stella heard the Warden sigh.

"I am surrounded by cow-turds."


	6. Chapter 6

Magnet was half-asleep as usual. Stella stood propped up against Zigzag. Squid had his head nestled in her shoulder and Mr. Sir came around the veranda of the main building, rubbing his hands together.

"Listen up," he said. "After the behaviour, exhibited these past several days, the Warden and I have decided, that your character building will be best served, by returnin' to the diggin' of individual _holes_. Over to you," he said to Doc.

"Alright, let's go dig boys," Doc shouted. "Let's go, let's go, let's go."

D-tent was stationed furthest away from the camp, with C-tent right beside them. In the distance, a little after sunrise, Stella saw two wheels and a dilapidated wagon sunk into the ground several inches. How old the wagon was, she didn't know. Nobody seemed to notice it. Soon it became part of the shimmering heat rising from the desert floor.

"Water is the most precious thing on earth," Mr. Sir stated. Stella chewed on a toothpick. She spent _way_ too much time with Squid. "All life begins with water. Think of it this way…" he shut off the faucet of the water tank. "I'm giving you life." He handed Stella her canteen back. "Say thank you."

"_Thank_ _you_, Mr. Sir," Stella said gratefully, taking back her canteen.

"Next!" Mr. Sir called, but only Zero waited in line. Squid and Zigzag had waited behind for Stella. Stella took a drink and over in the distance, a storm cloud cracked loudly. She, Squid and Zigzag all started and turned to watch the clouds hopefully.

"Don't get your hopes up," Mr. Sir advised without looking up. "Those storm clouds never make it past the mountains."

"Maybe this time they will," Stella said in soft hopefulness.

"I got a story for you Girl Scouts," Mr. Sir said, hitching his pants up. "Once upon a time, there was a magical place where it never rained- the End." He laughed at his own joke. The boys remained silent, frowning at him in slight confusion.

"I don't get it," Squid said to Zigzag. Zigzag just frowned. Mr. Sir went to the driver's door of his truck.

"Have a nice day," Mr. Sir said charmingly. He chuckled and hopped into the truck.

"Man, I never get anything he says," Squid sighed. Magnet stepped away from the truck to his hole. Zero just shook his head and continued digging. As Mr. Sir started up the engine of his truck the radio blared. Dust followed him as he went in the direction of the next group.

"Hey guys!" Magnet shouted, and he reached for something in his shallow hole.

"What?" several boys asked.

"Anybody want some sunflower seeds?" Magnet held up the half-full sack of sunflower seeds he had stolen stealthily from the front seat of Mr. Sir's truck.

"Whoo!" the boys shouted with glee. "Yeah, man!"

"I can't help it," Magnet laughed, "my hands are like magnets."

"Magnet, you're sticky-fingers," Zigzag laughed. X-Ray shoved his hand into the sack as Armpit grabbed it and both pulled out large fists full of the salty sunflower seeds.

"Yeah, I'll take some 'o those," Zigzag laughed, and X-Ray rolled the top of the sack before throwing it to Ricky. He took some seeds and popped some into his mouth.

"Hey Zig, come on man, hurry up," Squid complained.

"Hey!" Magnet stood up, worried. "Mr. Sir's coming back."

"He's coming back?" Zigzag, not wanting to be the one caught red-handed with Mr. Sir's prized sunflower seeds, tossed it to the next available person, which was unfortunately Stella.

"Oh! Butter-fingers," Ricky shouted, as the sunflower seeds spilled out of the open bag into Stella's hole.

"Shit," she swore softly to herself, turning over the dirt at the bottom of her hole. She managed to cover all but a few seeds by the time she heard Mr. Sir's door slam. The music turned off and she lay quietly in her shallow hole. She was aware her chest was rising and falling very quickly, and only hoped Mr. Sir attributed this to digging. The boys were digging quietly, only throwing into sharp relief that Stella wasn't. Mr. Sir went around, checking their holes, though he never said what he was looking for. They all knew; they boys were churning the sunflower seeds in their mouths, glancing at Stella guiltily under cover of showering the ground with fresh dirt. Mr. Sir checked Squid's hole, who was digging next to Stella as usual, and started as he turned to hers.

"Well, well," he sighed, hitching up his pants. He gestured to Stella's hole. "How did this get here?" A corner of the burlap sack was poking above the dirt. Stella went cold. It was actually quite nice. Behind Mr. Sir's back, Armpit spit out the sunflower seeds violently.

"What?"

"How did that get there?" Mr. Sir asked, quieter, in a more dangerous voice. "Did it fall from the sky? Huh?" Stella sighed.

"No," she sighed, and picked the canvas sack from under the dirt, unveiling more seeds. Mr. Sir spit out a seed. Magnet stared at her with the most pathetic, upset look. "I stole it outta your truck."

"I think the Warden would like to see what you've found," Mr. Sir said. He pointed a finger for her to follow. Stella followed him in her t-shirt with the sleeves ripped off, her jumpsuit around her waist, and her hat forced over her pale hair, dusty shoes and an even dirtier body.

"Y'all have a nice day?"

"Yes, Mr. Sir," X-Ray answered in his politest voice. He whispered to Stella as she passed. "Hey, yo! What are you doing?"

"Mom?" Magnet asked half-heartedly.

Mr. Sir didn't seem to mind her sitting on the way-too-comfortable car seat as he drove her back to the camp.

Standing in the shade was so _lovely_. _Perhaps this is how a man condemned to the chair feels before he sees the needle,_ Stella thought, startling herself with her reference to criminal activity. Usually she would have gone more along the lines of, _Perhaps this is how Travis feels before Stephanie is about to kiss him. _The unavoidable pain of death. But hey, she had changed. She could hear music playing inside the cabin; the Dolly Parton twang to the singer's voice. Mr. Sir took his hat off and smoothed his hair back, knocking on the glass-plates in the door sharply. The yellow sheer draped over the glass was pulled back a fraction and Stella saw the Warden's nose and eye peering through.

"What?"

"We found a little somethin' in Mom's hole," Mr. Sir said, and Stella could see the Warden's eye open wider in hope.

"What is it?" she opened the door, pulling the sleeve of a denim shirt over her fair, freckly shoulder over a grey sports bra from _Old Navy_. "What'd you find? Come in, come in, you're lettin' the cold out." Stella glanced at her before following Mr. Sir inside the cabin. A blast of cold air hit her like the dread of being in a remote location with two people who were, with no evidence on the contrary, complete anger-management-rehab-escapees. Stella took her hat off and glanced around. The Warden lived in some style. It was a lovely cabin, with a large open front room/kitchen/dining area, a small bathroom and a large bedroom up a small, almost vertical set of stairs. The Warden even had a computer. It was old, Stella knew, but better than any she had ever had.

"Tell her," Mr. Sir ordered. There was an almost-greedy look about the Warden, even though she smiled. Stella took a deep, steadying breath.

"Um…While Mr. Sir was filling our canteens," Stella began, "I- I snuck into his truck, and stole his sunflower seeds." _How come the boys haven't been caught yet?_

"Yeah," Mr. Sir murmured. Stella watched the Warden's expression. Bitter disappointment; she knew that face. She saw it every day on her mother's and grandmother's faces. The Warden glanced at Mr. Sir in disbelief and back at Stella again.

"Mom, would you kindly bring me that little brass case," the Warden asked politely, "in the bureaux over there with my nail polish in it."

"Yes ma'am," Stella nodded, and walked around her and Mr. Sir to the large dark-wood cabinet behind them. Mr. Sir didn't seem to know what would happen as the Warden sat down on her little settee.

"Them little devils think I don't have eyes in the back of my head," Mr. Sir said in a low voice, but Stella could hear him. The music had been turned off. "I don't miss much, as you well know." Stella had to bite her tongue to keep from laughing at this. He popped one of his jelly-candies into his mouth. Stella had seen the container in the car; it was almost empty. Soon Mr. Sir would be looking to replace it. "My philosophy is- see I keep 'em in line- punishment, and reward. Punishment, and reward." He slapped his palms together for emphasis.

Stella found the section of the large cabinet where the Warden kept her cosmetics. There were several jars of powders and things, several tubes of lipstick. Stella noticed she used the same colour her mother did; rose-tinted nude. The brass case the Warden had described sat with its front panel open and the lid off. There were a few cotton wool balls squashed in a jar behind it, and a well-worn nail-file lay on top of it. There were two colours of polish; the dark, almost blood-red the Warden favoured, and a clear base and top-coat. Stella picked up the case carefully and closed the cabinet door. She glanced at the walls; newspaper prints had been framed. They were all printed by the _Greenlake Register_. They all featured Kissin' Kate Barlow, either about a robbery or murder she had committed, or a wanted sign for her arrest. £500 in 1905 was a lot of money. To Stella, it was still a lot of money. _K.B._

"Every time they see me coming, a little shiver goes down their spines," Mr. Sir giggled. "D-tent is a snaky little bunch, you know. They think they're a step ahead of me but I'm _miles_ ahead of them. I look around, I see it in their eyes; they know I know."

"Come right over here, Stella," the Warden smiled sweetly. Stella knew that kind of smile. Someone was in _big_ trouble. Only, for some reason, Stella wasn't getting those warning tingles down her spine that cautioned against trouble. Stella handed her the brass case carefully. "Thank you." Stella stood by her left hand. She picked up the bottle of red nail polish.

"You see this Mom? This is my _special _nail polish."

"It's a pretty colour," Stella said quietly, and the Warden smiled.

"I make it myself," she said, unscrewing the cap. She picked up the little brush and painted the nails on her left hand. "You wanna know my secret ingredient?" Stella had never known anybody to make their own _nail polish_. The most Grandma could come up with was potpourri to mask the smell of foot-odour. Mr. Sir had risen slowly from his seat, staring at the brush as the Warden applied the glistening colour to her cruelly long nails. Stella glanced at her own; they were short and dirt clogged underneath them.

"Rattlesnake venom," the Warden said gently, setting the bottle down again. Stella glanced at her. "I just _love_ what it does to the colouring. It's perfectly harmless…" she ran her fingertips down Stella's cheek. She couldn't help suppressing a shudder just at the woman's cold touch. "When it's dry." The Warden took back her hand and screwed the cap on the bottle. Stella glanced around. The kitchen stood behind Mr. Sir. On the refrigerator there were Polaroid pictures of several of the boys at Camp Green Lake, and Stella even saw her picture. It was her mug-shot when she had gotten to camp.

"So you think she stole your sunflower seeds," the Warden said, putting the bottle back into the case.

"No I don't," Mr. Sir contradicted. _Bad move_, Stella warned him with a scared glance. "I think she's covering for one of the boys- Squid or Zigzag. It was a five-pound sack and she claims to have eaten it all."

"But- But, it was half-full when I got it," Stella said quietly. She didn't want the boys to get in trouble. Otherwise she would have turned Magnet in way before they'd reached the steps up to the cabin porch. "And there's a lot of seeds in my hole. You can check there." The Warden had lost her patience.

"Oh I will," Mr. Sir growled. "I will—!" The Warden struck Mr. Sir across the face with her left hand. Her left hand with the still-wet nail polish. She had actually stabbed him with her nails. Mr. Sir clutched his face, at the same time falling backwards over an armchair. He was yelling on the floor, stamping his feet with the pain. The Warden turned on Stella with a sour expression, as if challenging her to do something about it. Stella just stared back at her. She had the courtesy not to let her jaw drop. It was only her eyes that betrayed her emotions. As much as she despised Mr. Sir, rattlesnake poison was lethal. She wouldn't wish it upon anyone. Well, maybe Stephanie Dunne. She wished it had been Stephanie and not Mr. Sir the Warden scratched. It would definitely leave a scar, if only from the red colouring of the polish.

"I suggest," the Warden said carefully, forcing her to back away to the door as she strode forward, "that you go back to your hole now." Stella nodded and gulped.

"Yes Ma'am," she gasped. The door slammed behind her.

"I liked you better when you smoked." As soon as she was past the mess hall, which blocked the Warden's view of the camp, she pelted around the bend created by the old chemists, which was now the infirmary, and back the way Mr. Sir had driven them. She soon slowed, with no water, and made it to the boys.

"Hey! Look who's back," Ricky shouted, poking Squid with the wooden end of his shovel. Squid glanced up and his eyebrows rose.

"We thought you were dead for sure. We thought you were buzzard food," Squid said.

"Hey Mom, what'd you say?" Magnet asked worriedly.

"Nothing," Stella said quietly.

"What'd she do to you?" X-Ray asked.

"Nothing," Stella said quietly.

"_Nothing_?" X-Ray repeated in disbelief. She reached her hole and frowned, laughing softly, still a little shaken from what she'd seen.

"What is this?" she asked softly, picking up her shovel and measuring the depth of the hole. It was exactly five feet. "Thank you guys, thank you very much."

"Don't look at us," Magnet laughed.

"Yeah, it was _those three_," X-Ray said, nodding at Zigzag, Squid and Zero.

"It was mostly Zero," Zigzag cut in. "That boy likes to dig holes."

"Yeah," Squid said. "We were stealing his idea."

"Alan, are you being modest?" Stella asked. Alan smiled sweetly, leaning on his shovel. Stella sighed and glanced between the three boys. She went over to Zero and gave him a kiss on the cheek. Zigzag and Squid exchanged a glance and quickly cleaned their faces as best they could of dirt. Stella went to Squid next, and he moved his head around when she went for his cheek, gently brushing her lips with his. Stella sighed and rolled her eyes as she went over to Ricky. She sat down, like she had with the others, but Ricky was already leaning towards her. He pressed his lips to hers, wrapping an arm around her waist. The boys 'oooh-d' and catcalled as Stella kissed him back, throwing him back into his hole. She giggled and exited the hole, leaving a dazed Zigzag on the floor, a feeling of deep contentment sweeping through him.

"Man, I was only kidding! I helped too," Magnet said, but Stella just laughed. Reluctant to go back to the camp to face Mr. Sir, for he would surely blame Stella for what had happened to him, Stella waited for the boys to finish digging. Dr. Pendanski came with the truck a while later with their lunches and Stella jumped out of her hole. She stayed behind Zero and as she took her cookie, frowned at Doc.

"Is Mr. Sir okay?" she asked quietly. Dr. Pendanski sighed.

"He'll be fine," he said. "Unfortunately for you." He gave her a meaningful look and Stella returned to her hole in a worse mood than she had been in since she stepped out of the Warden's cabin. Her mind was buzzing. It was going something like this: _I kissed Zigzag. I kissed Zigzag. I kissed Zigzag. I kissed Zigzag. I kissed Zigzag. I KISSED ZIGZAG._ Only, a hundred times over and a hundred times louder. And then it switched to _Ricky kissed me. Ricky kissed me. Ricky kissed me. Ricky kissed me. Ricky kissed me. Ricky kissed me. Ricky kissed me…OOH MY GOD! _Sudden realisation hit her. _RICKY KISSED ME!!!_ _Interesting turn of events_.

For the longest time, Stella had never had anyone even _look_ at her at school. Ricky lived in the apartment directly above hers. Ricky had three brothers and a sister. The four boys slept in bunk-beds; Evelyn slept in a cot squashed at the foot of one of them. Stella had gone all the way through elementary and middle-school with Ricky as one of her- well, her _only_ friend- and then they reached high school and Ricky got popular, leaving her behind. Unfortunately he also got into criminal activity. It wasn't really his fault. His father was violent. His mother couldn't really defend herself because she still loved her husband, as was evident by her five children. But Ricky took over making sure his brothers, and especially his sister, didn't know what was happening between their parents. They were always out of the apartment at soccer or softball or gymnastics or swim-practice. Stella heard the arguments upstairs. Grandma always tutted and said that one day things would come to an end, and their children would suffer for it. There was always an extra cot in their bedroom, just in case. Mom wouldn't have minded taking care of one more person if it meant them not being hurt. She would take in all Ricky's brothers and sister, his mother too, if it meant her friend wouldn't be hurt any more.

They showered together, under separate shower-heads, (duh!) laughing about nothing in particular, dressed in their casual jumpsuit and went straight to dinner.

"I don't want no hocus-pocus," Mr. Sir was saying to the cook. "Fourteen dollars for stinkin' onions. We don't need no onions."

"Well you told me to get onions," the cook shrugged.

"I wanna taste it," Mr. Sir declared, shoving Zane out of the way to get to the large, smoking vat of onions.

"Go ahead," the cook said. "Let him taste it; I don't care."

"I'm gon' taste it then," Mr. Sir said, and he turned around, the right side of his face visible. The two gashes left by the Warden were red, the skin around it blotchy red and purple, even a tinged green. Squid, standing beside her in the line, let out a small gasp.

"Whoa! What happened to your _face_?" he asked, unfortunately peering closer than Mr. Sir would ever ordinarily let someone invade his 'bubble'. Mr. Sir looked up from the onion ladle slowly, his mouth open still to taste the food. He dropped the ladle and grabbed Squid by the collar. Stella touched Zero's shoulder; he had jumped, reaching for the ketchup bottle.

"Somethin' the matter with my face? _Huh_?"

"No- No, Mr. Sir," Squid said, staring in horror at the gashes in Mr. Sir's cheek.

"You got that right," Mr. Sir said vindictively, and he threw Squid back into one of the wooden tables. There was a loud clatter of metal falling to the floor and several people shouted in surprise. Zero had jumped again. Stella laid a comforting hand on his shoulder.

"Anybody see anything wrong with my face?" Stella closed her eyes. "_HUH! _I think I'm kinda purty, don't you?"

"Yes, Mr. Sir," everyone chorused, though no one looked up from their trays except a few people. Squid, thrown back onto a wooden surface on his neck, was clutching his head. He pulled himself up off the floor, staring at Mr. Sir with a frown.


	7. Chapter 7

"Clean this up," Mr. Sir ordered in a calm voice to no one in particular. Stella didn't look up from the vat of 'string beans' until they all heard Mr. Sir in a right rage behind the blinds of his office. She turned and grasped Alan's arm. He was still frowning, though with wide eyes and an open mouth. There was something haunted in his eyes.

"Now I think we all just learned a valuable lesson," Dr. Pendanski said, as Stella moved Squid's tray down the line for him. "We're all people, and Mr. Sir is a very _sensitive_ man, just like all of us."

At the table, each of the boys turned to stare unblinkingly at Stella for an answer. She didn't give one. The atmosphere in the mess hall, which was usually filled with loud conversation and tired laughter, was colder than the Warden's air-conditioning. There was silence.

"Um…" Magnet tried to start a conversation. No one picked up.

"I know," Ricky said brightly. "Hey Stella, I got a question for you."

"Mm," Stella grunted, tearing the crusts off her bread to eat separately. The entire hall was quiet except for Mr. Sir in the other room with his radio on loud.

"Just how big are your boobs now?" Ricky asked, and Stella dropped her crust in disgust, a bit of bread sticking out of her mouth. Zero giggled.

"Ricky, you don't ask a lady that," Doc corrected, but the boys all hushed him for her answer. In truth, Stella hadn't fit into her bra for so long she didn't even know. She was smaller than her troublesome DD, that was for sure.

"Well just how big are _your boobs_?" Stella asked.

"I'd reckon he was about a…38AA," Squid frowned, sizing Zigzag up. The rest of the boys all smirked and laughed, and gradually the hall began to fill with noise again.

"Wait, wait, AA is bigger," Magnet shook his head. "He's only an A. Or a negative A."

"What are you _talking about_?" Ricky pretended to be insulted. "Don't go insulting my double-J breasts." Stella giggled into her bread. "I mean, they're like the size of basketballs."

Stella had left the mess hall alone in search of her book. It wasn't the wisest thing to do when Mr. Sir was angry and his pride was hurt, but Mr. Sir didn't come out of his office for some time. She did, however, run into Zane outside the back door of the kitchen. He had taken the black hairnet off, required when he served 'food'.

"Hey, uh, can we take a walk?" he asked, and Stella thought he might be nervous. Stella nodded. _What the hell_, she sighed. Zane walked off to the tents, though he didn't stop at C. They continued walking until they were past the councillors' RVs.

"Um, are you gonna try to kill me or something? Should I try and fight back?" Stella asked, folding her arms across her chest once Zane stopped walking. He looked around, not really looking for anything, just taking it all in.

"We put them back," he said, and Stella just raised an eyebrow in confusion. He sighed as if he didn't actually want to voice what he said next. "The food we stole from the supply truck. The candy and bread and sunflower seeds. We put them back. The guys got cold feet when they saw you walking in."

"You do it often?" Stella asked. Zane's answer wasn't direct.

"I've been here for over three years," he sighed, and Stella stared. "You get to know how things work. And the way _people _work. The Warden didn't like Mr. Sir taking you to her this morning, did she?" The question was rhetorical. "That's why he had those gashes in his face." Stella didn't make eye contact. "Don't feel guilty about it Stella. Mr. Sir's known the Warden long enough; he should have known she wouldn't care about a bag of _sunflower seeds_."

"How did you-?" Zane laughed softly.

"You don't think we can hear you?" he chuckled. "Man, you guys talk so _loud_. All we ever hear about is _global warming_, and _Chinese kids digging to nowhere_- and _don't think I didn't see you kissing those boys_." Stella's eyebrows rose, this time in amusement. He was smiling, pointing a finger at her.

"Whatever! I was just saying thank you for them helping dig my hole," she shrugged. "It didn't have to mean anything. I wasn't gonna kiss them on the lips, but Alan moved, and Ricky-"

"Likes you," Zane sighed, amused. They started walking back to the tents now that their secret conference was over. Stella stared at him. He laughed. "Oh come _on_. That guy has been mad-dogging you since you _got here_."

"And you haven't!" Stella laughed loudly. Zane stared at her but nodded as if to say 'Yeah, true!'

"I was just looking out for you," Zane said. "You remember that fight you broke up between me and Mick."

"Yeah," Stella shrugged. He poked her chest.

"It was over you," he said, shaking his head as he squinted over at the barn. Stella frowned as she remembered something.

"I thought you told me he'd be gone in a few days," she frowned.

"A few days turned into a couple of weeks," Zane sighed, glancing at her with sad eyes. "They have to wait for room at the local penitentiary for him before they'll release him here." _Great_. Zane must have seen her thoughts mirrored in her expression.

"Hey, don't worry about it," he said, comfortingly brushing her arm. "I didn't mean to scare you." He sat down on the porch opposite the basketball hoop and bounced the ball between his legs, stretched out luxuriously. "You and your three boyfriends-"

"Three?"

"Yeah," Zane grinned. "Well, four if you count me. But you haven't kissed me, so don't! Zigzag, Squid, Zero and me.

"My god, I'm a slut," Stella sighed, and Zane laughed softly.

"Trust me, you're anything _but_," he said. "If you were a slut, you'd have done every guy here."

"Well that's true," Stella nodded.

"Yeah, I mean, just making out with them doesn't count," Zane shrugged, and Stella hit his arm playfully. It didn't have much effect on the hardened muscle.

"So you've really been here _three years_," she shook her head, wondering what he could have done wrong.

"Yeah," Zane sighed. "I'm a Ward of the State. I have been since I was thirteen. When I came here for assault, I just…I liked it. There was no way to get in trouble, nobody to make you feel inferior, though Pendanski does his best, and as long as you dig one hole each day, there aren't any other boundaries."

"You _like _it here!"

"You don't?" Zane said pointedly, raising an eyebrow. Stella frowned at him.

"Yeah, I do," she sighed, finally coming to the realization that she had had more fun in one month at Camp Green Lake than she had ever had before. She had _friends_. They were also like her brothers. She had always wanted siblings. Her parents couldn't afford to have another child after she was born and her grandmother moved in with them after her health began to decline. The food was bad, the showers were cold, the tent was smelly, her cot was scratchy (although it had softened considerably with her tossing and turning) and her skin was now a healthy (although the probability of getting skin cancer had heightened for it) bronze instead of pale and pasty as she had arrived. She was in great shape; toned and not one bit of fat, all muscle. Her only regret was not seeing her family.

"You know, I think my Grandma could take over being the Warden and no one would ever notice the difference," Stella said, laughing softly.

"Why?" Zane asked, scratching his ear.

"Well, my grandmother had _my_ mother out of wedlock. So she was a single mother from the sixties; she had to work, be a mother, and a father-figure at the same time. She had to teach my mother how to behave and hold her own against boys, and she was a public defender in the DA for several years before she became a teacher, consequently in one of the worst schools in the state. You know, not the nice schools I went to; these ones had metal detectors and bars on the windows, and someone _still_ managed to get a knife past the guards."

"She sounds tough," Zane smiled. "She helped raise you, I'm sure."

"Yeah," Stella sighed. "My Daddy died just before I turned ten, and my grandma had already moved in with us because she fell and hurt herself, so when Daddy died, she became the second parent."

"It must be tough on your mom," Zane sighed. "Being without you." Stella sighed.

"At this point, how would I even know?" They sat in silence for a while, soaking up rays, until they heard the all-too familiar commotion in the mess hall that meant the boys had finished eating.

"You wanna help me straighten out the supply shed?" Zane asked, and Stella thought he didn't like to be around so many people, which was ironic, seeing as he was the silent tyrant of the camp.

"Uh, yeah, sure," Stella shrugged. He hauled her off the floor with one strong arm and they walked over to the shed.

"So what about you?" Stella prompted, once inside the cool. Zane glanced up, surprised. "Why are you here?" Zane shrugged.

"Several counts of assault and theft," he sighed. "I don't think it really matters why we were sent here; once we're here, everyone's equal."

"Yeah, except the adults," Stella said bitterly.

"Right," Zane sighed. "The point is we're here, and we all have to work hard before they'll release us."

"When do you leave?" Stella asked. Zane laughed.

"I don't know."

"You don't know!"

"I've been here so long I've lost count. I can't remember how long my sentence was," Zane shrugged. Stella frowned. She was to be at Camp Green Lake for half the time Zane had already been here, and almost a month later she didn't even know the date.

"How old are you?" Stella asked.

"Sixteen," Zane said, frowning at her question. Stella's jaw dropped.

"I thought you were _way_ older than that," she exclaimed. "When's your birthday?" Zane frowned.

"July," he said finally.

"Well, I came in March, so it's now April," Stella sighed. "You've still got a ways to go yet."

"When's your birthday?" Zane asked.

"June," Stella smiled.

"You'll be seventeen too?" Stella nodded.


	8. Chapter 8

Everyone was wary of Mr. Sir the next day. He did the first round of filling canteens. As Stella reached the truck, he gave her the Evils as she handed him her canteen.

"You thirsty Hargrove?" he asked quietly.

"Yes Mr. Sir," Stella gasped, breathing hard. Mr. Sir yanked on the faucet of the water tank, but the water didn't fall into the canteen. He let it make a large puddle on the ground, where it quickly evaporated. Stella watched the water go, wishing she could just drink from the tank. He shut it off and handed back her empty canteen.

"There, that should hold you," he said, "Next!" Stella sighed and turned back to her hole. She could see the entire desert from where she stood, and as she looked, she thought she heard horses galloping and pistols shooting into the air. The Wanted posters in the Warden's cabin of Kissin' Kate Barlow flashed in Stella's mind, and the little golden tube resurfaced. She had seen tubes like it before. She remembered what it was. And she thought she knew who it had belonged to. She sat at her hole, frowning into the distance. Zero jumped into her hole and handed her his canteen.

"Want some water?" Stella smiled appreciatively and took a sip of Zero's water. She set the canteen down.

"You remember that gold tube?" she asked. Zero nodded.

"I think that that tube was a tube of lipstick," she frowned, "and that _K.B._ stands for Kate Barlow."

"Kissin' Kate Barlow?" Zero raised his eyebrows. Stella had been telling the boys in D-tent the story revolving around Madame Zeroni's curse.

"Kissin' Kate Barlow," Stella nodded, smiling.

"Okay…M-O-M," Zero frowned. He finished the word and sighed. "We weren't always homeless. I remember we used to live in a lot of different places. And then…we didn't live anywhere."

"It must have been hard," Stella said quietly.

"My mom had problems, but she would try so hard to give us a better life," Zero sighed. "She couldn't take me everywhere she went. I used to have to wait at a park or on a porch…and then, one day, she didn't come back."

"What happened to her?" Stella asked.

"I don't know," Zero said, and Stella could see the upset in his eyes. "That's what bothers me the most. If I could, I'd hire a whole team of private investigators to find her…I used to wait at Laney Park."

"Laney Park! That's near my apartment," Stella said, frowning. It turned out they lived in the same town. They had been living in the same town for years and she'd never noticed him.

"I saw you there once," Zero said quietly. "You were with a pretty, blonde lady."

"That's my Momma," Stella smiled.

"Does your dad work?"

"No; he's dead," Stella sighed. Zero's face clouded.

"Oh."

Doc called another meeting that night in their tent. Stella hid Zero's worksheets and lay on her cot while the boys filed in from the rec room. The conversation turned again to what the boys would do after they were released from Camp Green Lake.

"I got a question," Stella said abruptly after a few minutes of silence. "Where do you boys all live?" The boys all answered; they lived in the same town, except for Squid, whose family moved around a lot, but he was arrested there.

"Is the reason we're all in D-tent because we live in the same town?" Stella asked.

"Why yes, Stella, it is," Doc smiled. "We thought it would be good for you to form friendships with the people you would go home with." Stella rolled her eyes.

"Home," Squid sniffed in disgust, shaking his head.

Stella was digging between Zigzag and Squid, and Zane was digging only a few dozen feet away from their group with Handsome Rob and Mick.

"Okay boys, let's line 'em up," Doc shouted, once the lunch was brought round. "We have bologna and cheese sandwiches, apples and cookies." The boys went down the line; Squid hid some extra cookies behind his back as he took a sandwich from the cooler.

"Hello Theodore," Doc said happily.

"You know my name's Armpit, dude," Armpit growled only half-heartedly. Arguing with Doc over their names, they were fighting a losing battle.

"Alan! Good day to you," Doc nodded. "Good afternoon Ricky."

"Sir," Ricky nodded.

"Can I have more sandwiches?" Magnet asked.

"You can have one sandwich," Doc frowned. Magnet said something in Spanish. "This is America, we speak English." Stella took her food, nodded to Doc and went and lounged on her dirt pile.

"Hey, man, I got some extra cookies," Squid said in a low voice to Zigzag as they walked over to her. Zigzag grinned and stole some from him.

"Hey!" he kicked Stella's foot and offered her the cookie. Stella grinned and halved it with Zero. The boys just shook their heads and laughed.

For some reason, Mick had decided to make a scene.

"Hey what's the matter, huh? Give me a smile," he drawled. Stella sighed and bit into her apple, pretending not to hear. Ricky's eyes sharpened on the boy a few yards away. She heard footsteps behind her.

"You got a nice _swerve_ on you lady, you fine," Mick sighed.

"Leave her alone," Ricky said, glaring over at Mick.

"Ricky, it's okay," Stella said, laying a hand on his arm.

"Are you _joking_? Is this _your_ little honey?" Mick asked Ricky incredulously. Doc was still there with the truck, filling E-tent's canteens. "Come here bitch, I wanna good look at you."

"Uh, boys, let's go, _now_," Stella said, jerking Zigzag's and Squid's sleeves so they'd move.

"I only need like two minutes," Mick shouted, striding over to her.

"Leave her alone," Ricky said more forcefully.

"Zig, _now_," Stella said.

"What you gonna do about it?" Mick walked over to Stella, who had turned her back on him, making her way through their piles of dirt to the truck. She felt someone grab her ass roughly and turned around sharply. Stella stared Mick straight in the eye, challenging him. He grabbed hold of her wrist but someone blocked his way. Ricky stood in front of him: Mick was Hispanic, and quite short. Ricky glared down at him from a far greater height.

"Leave her alone," he ordered. So Mick stepped back, and instead of walking away he threw a punch at Zig. The boys of C- and D-tent soon saw what was going on; Ricky and Mick rolling around on the floor, throwing wild punches and elbowing each other painfully.

"Hey! Stop it," Stella shouted. Finally the boys were standing and Mick threw a punch to Ricky's jaw. He fell to the ground heavily: Mick had knocked him out cold. Mick advanced on Stella with no one to stop him, hurting her wrist as he grabbed it tightly in his hand. Stella tried to shove him away. Squid leapt on Mick's back, his hands around his neck, but Mick just punched him and sent him to the floor, falling on top of him with more punches. Stella was shouting with the other boys, trying to get Mick to stop. Squid did a good job of defending himself, doubling the number of punches thrown at Mick, but an elbow in the stomach made him convulse. Dr. Pendanski was beside himself shouting. Stella glanced around; the boys had crowded around to watch; several of the older boys were shouting in glee at the demonstration. Zane had been digging without stopping for several minutes before he strode over to their group with his shovel held in his hands like a weapon. His back to him, Mick didn't see Zane coming with the shovel, and didn't have time to react before it was flung over his head, pressed hard into his throat by a coolly-angry Zane. He was choking Mick with the wooden handle of the shovel, keeping him held to the ground on top of him with all the force of his muscles.

"Stop it Zane, he can't breathe," Stella gasped, trying to get him to loosen his grip; he was adamant. A shot rang through the air and the boys jumped: Dr. Pendanski stood with a rifle aimed upwards.

"Now I said that's enough!" he shouted, and Stella could see him shaking: He was scared. "When I say to end something I mean end it. Get back to your holes. Michael, get over here _now_."

The Warden was called out of her cabin. She and Mr. Sir stood on the inside of the half-circle created by C- and D-tent. Mick stood handcuffed to the back of the truck.

"Basically, Zane almost killed Michael," Dr. Pendanski said to the Warden.

"Basically?" she repeated.

"Uh… Mick was getting rough with Mom, and Ziggy stepped in and he and Mick started fighting," Zane said calmly. "Then Mick knocked Zig unconscious and Squid jumped on him. I had to get Mick off of him."

"Yeah, you know," X-Ray shrugged, "the boys just got a little hot. Out in the sun all day, the blood starts to boil."

"Is that what happened boys?" the Warden turned to Squid and Zigzag, who flanked Stella protectively.

"Yeah," Zigzag shrugged.

"Ma'am," Squid said, taking his toothpick out of his mouth, "ever since she got here, Mick's been harassing Stella. Just yesterday he threatened to rape her when we were in the rec room." Stella was breathing hard, her arms folded across her chest, glaring at the floor.

"Yeah well it's not fair she gets special treatment just cos she's a girl," Mick shouted. "The boys dig her hole for her." Stella's head snapped up.

"Liar!" she shouted spitefully. Mr. Sir turned on her.

"You're not diggin' holes no more," he said threateningly.

"I am!" Stella said indignantly. "The only time the boys have helped me was when I went to see the Warden with you." Mr. Sir glared at her.

"Okay, from now on, I don't want _anyone_ digging anyone else's hole," the Warden sighed. Stella rolled her eyes behind her back. _One hole, one stupid hole because Mr. Sir wanted his sunflower seeds so badly_, she thought. "Is that clear... Stella?"

"Yes Ma'am?"

"Why don't you go on over there and teach Michael a lesson." Stella stared at her. _What?_ "Well go on!" The boys all stared at her as she strode over to Mick. She stood up straight and stared him in the face. She lifted her heavy boot and kicked as hard as she could, as accurately as she could. Mick fell to his knees, clutching his groin as the boys all groaned in sympathy. The boys all groaned in sympathy, wincing and protecting their own assets.

"Try using that again," Stella growled, returning to her post between Ricky and Alan.

"Mick, you'll be in solitary confinement for the duration of this week," the Warden said hostilely. She glanced at Stella between her two boys, and Zane, and nodded as she went back to her Chrysler.

Stella was woken abruptly by someone forcing their hand over her mouth. She felt someone climb on top of her and instantly snapped her legs together.

"You're dead, you hear me," the person whispered angrily, "you're dead." Stella tried to fight Mick off but he held her hands together with one of his own above her head. She bit hard on one of his fingers. He smacked her across the cheek with the back of his hand, violently. She whimpered as her eye felt like it was going to explode.

He tried to force his way into her but she fought back, making it as difficult as possible to get her legs open. No matter how many times he hit her across the face or bit her, twisted the skin of her wrists, she didn't let up.

A high-pitched, stricken scream rang through the camp. The tent lights instantly blared as someone shouted; 'Jesus Christ almighty!'

"What the hell's going on?" Alan groaned, but then they all saw what was happening; Stella was writhing on her cot, Mick on top of her pinning her down.

"What the fuck are you doing?" Zigzag asked hostilely, and launched himself at Mick, throwing him to the floor.

"Zero, go get Mr. Sir," Alan ordered, as Stella lay on her cot, staring up at the canvas ceiling with sparkling eyes, her entire body trembling. Zero ran into Zane trying to get out of the tent. Zane lifted him from the floor, set him to rights, saw Stella on her cot and Mick, and with an angry yell he joined Ricky beating the shit out of Mick. They took it in turns, one pinning him, the other inflicting pain on him by any visible means. The entire tent was in chaos. The boys had run with Zero to get the councillors, Magnet had gone to the Warden, and Alan crept onto Stella's cot.

"Hey, you're okay," he whispered, helping her sit up carefully. She was bleeding in a few places where there were sharp teeth marks in her shoulders and neck, and her face was covered already in bruises, her cheeks shining from harsh contact and tears. She just stared blankly, her mouth quivering as tears splashed down her cheeks.

"Hey, you're alright," he whispered comfortingly, perched on the edge of her cot. She was shaking badly. Alan put an arm around her back. She shivered and glanced at him warily.

"Hey, I'm not going to hurt you," Alan promised, running a finger along her jawbone comfortingly. She broke down and cried. Alan pulled her into his form and hugged her close while the boys kept beating Mick to within an inch of his life.

"What in tarnation is going on in here?" the Warden asked. Alan glanced up. Mr. Sir and one of the other, friendlier councillors had arrived flanked by the D-tent boys and some of the others as well. Stella just shook in Alan's arms. Ricky and Zane seemed not to hear her because they just kept scuffling with Mick on the floor.

"Hey! Wha's goin' on in here?" Mr. Sir barked. Zigzag and Zane jumped off Mick, who lay on the floor unconscious. The Warden stared at his bloody face and at the boys.

"After what happened yesterday, I'm surprised at you," she said to Zane.

"Ma'am, he tried to rape Stella," Alan spoke up. The Warden's and councillors' countenances changed completely. They all turned to stare at Stella, who was still crying into Alan's shoulder.

"Dr. Pendanski, get Mick out of here," the Warden ordered. "Boys," she shouted outside, "get back to your tents. You're still up early tomorrow mornin'." The rest of D-tent was kept out of the tent. Zane and Ricky were told to sit down on Zero's cot and they sat, like two naughty kindergartners who had been eating glue and had been sent to the corner.

But Stella wouldn't talk to the Warden, Doc or the nicest councillor. They wanted to know what happened, but Alan knew there was no way they would get her to talk to them. The Warden frowned at Stella and glanced at Squid.

"Squid, can you step outside with me a moment please," she asked politely. Alan rubbed Stella's arm comfortingly as he got off the cot. Mr. Sir kept Ricky and Zane on the cot.

"Alan, I know you're close to Stella," the Warden said quietly. "We need to know if Michael hurt her more than what we can see." Alan nodded. He understood. It was an awkward question to have to ask. He went back inside the tent and the Warden followed. She stared between Ricky and Zane. Stella was still trembling on her cot. Alan went and sat down beside her, putting his arm around her shoulder again. Stella leaned into him and gradually stopped shivering so badly.

"Alright boys, what do you have to say for yerselves?" the Warden asked. The boys exchanged a look and shrugged.

"Nothin'," Ricky said. "He shoulda known we'd kill him."

"Well from now on, Zane will be bunking in D-tent with you all," the Warden decided. "Zane, get your cot and move it beside Mom's." Zane looked up from the floor, which was splashed with blood the councillor was ordered to clean up, with his eyebrows raised. "Go on!" Zane hurried to do as he was told and attention turned to Zigzag.

"Ricky, you're to make sure Stella is always accompanied around camp, until Mick leaves and I tell you to stop stalking her," the Warden said, and when Zane came back to the tent with his cot, Handsome Rob following with his crate, the Warden left, glancing at Stella and the councillor cleaning the floor of Mick's blood. Mick was woken up and staggered back to his cot, where he was handcuffed to one of the tent poles behind his cot for the night.

The lights went out but Alan, Squid, Zane and Stella didn't sleep. The boys had pushed their cots right up to Stella's, so she was guarded from all sides. Squid's cot had been pushed to the bottom of the others'. Eventually the boys decided to take it in turns to watch the door, but they knew no one would come in. When it was Alan's turn, and Stella still hadn't fallen asleep, he crept up beside her and sat with his legs crossed.

"Stella, I gotta ask you," he whispered in a heavy voice. Stella's eyes roved over his face and she rolled onto her side to make room for him. Alan sighed. It was an awkward question. "Did he get inside you?" Stella stared at him for a few seconds before she shook her head.

"No," she whispered. Alan was surprised with the weight that had lifted from his chest as he sighed. He gripped her shoulder comfortingly and groaned as he turned onto his back, trying not to nudge Ricky. He started biting at one of the bracelets on his right wrist.

"What are you doing?" Stella asked miserably, as he untied the knot of one of the bracelets. "You love those." He shrugged and took her right hand. He wrapped the bracelet around her wrist and tied it tightly.

"Friends for life," he promised. Stella gave him a small smile.

"For life," she agreed softly.


	9. Chapter 9

Mick was to be transferred three days after he had tried to rape Stella. The morning after, everyone in the camp was careful around Stella, trying their best not to upset her. She was skittish around everyone, particularly when someone slammed their shovel into the metal door of the one of the inner rooms.

Mick was released from his handcuffs and ordered to march to his group accompanied by Mr. Sir and his pistol. It was only when he started digging that they all noticed the odd angle at which his right arm stuck out. As well as several ribs, his nose, mangled knuckles, his arm had been snapped by Ricky in the full heat of his fury. He also had a busted lip, two black eyes, and he complained of his collar bone. No one made an attempt to fix him up.

The boys at Camp Green Lake all knew Stella and loved her. It wasn't just that she was the only girl. She had meshed in their midst and was one of them. It didn't matter that she had boobs any more. After what had happened to Mick, hardly any of the boys dared _look_ at Stella when Zane or Ricky was around.

As the Warden had directed, Ricky was with Stella wherever she went. Sometimes it was annoying, like when she showered or went to the bathroom, but at least out on the desert, he let her pee in privacy. Stella hated how easy it was for the boys; she had to pull her jumpsuit all the way down. But sometimes, like when she was tutoring Zero, she liked having Ricky there. She liked having someone else see how bright Hector was. Zigzag started teasing Zero less because of what he'd seen. He didn't know Zero couldn't read or write. It was as much of a shock to him as it had been to Stella, and he even started teaching Zero basic math.

"Nice bracelet," Ricky sighed, and Stella saw some disappointment in his eyes as he frowned at the band Alan had given her. Stella played with the threads that tied it around her wrist.

"Squid gave it to me," she smiled. "He promised we'd always be best-friends." Hope. His eyes flashed with hope. Stella glanced at him, noticing their close proximity. She was uncomfortable around the other boys, except Squid, Zane and Zero, but Ricky was so calm around her. She knew he was trying to keep her calm too. Ricky sighed and rolled over on his cot. Stella moved closer to him, placing a hand on his chest.

"Wha's wrong?" she asked quietly. Ricky glanced at her.

"Nothin'," he sighed.

"You're a shitty liar," Stella raised an eyebrow. Ricky sighed again.

"I want to kiss you," he confessed, and Stella raised both eyebrows. Ricky shook his head on his pillow as if ashamed of himself.

"Well then do it," Stella said sharply. Ricky propped himself up on his elbows in surprise. He glanced at her, taking in the small cuts from Mick, looking quite upset, and ran a finger down her jawbone, moving closer to her. Stella tilted her head slightly, and Ricky sighed as he pressed his lips gently to hers. It was the second time he had kissed her, and it made her forget what had happened just two nights before. Stella pressed her lips against his and sighed, pressing her hand gently against his cheek.

"Mm," she smiled. Ricky grinned nervously. Stella leaned forward and pressed Zigzag onto his back, crawling onto him. Ricky's hands found her waist, working the hem of her t-shirt feeling up her sides.

"Girl, you're skinny," he sighed, grinning up at her. Stella smiled and kissed him again, and he pressed his tongue against her lips, rolling her over gently. Ricky's weight on top of her was comforting.

For several days they snuck around kissing. No one was any the wiser. Stella usually went around the camp on her own and as Ricky had been assigned to guard her, no one made any comment. Except Zane.

"You guys go all the way yet?" he asked quietly, one day when Stella was in the supply shed with him. Stella just stared at him. He laughed. "Come on! You've been sneaking around together for days. You think no one noticed?"

"More like _hoped_," Stella sighed. "Anyway, it doesn't really matter. We _can't _go the whole way."

"Sure you can," Zane frowned, slightly amused. "I saw the patches."

"Those aren't so I can sleep with whoever I want, _Zane_," Stella frowned. "You have no idea how hard it is to be the only girl here." Zane shrugged slightly in agreement.

"Well…I think he's a good person," Zane said of Ricky. "It's obvious he cared about you, even before he helped me beat Mick." Stella raised an eyebrow. Zane really was observant. "He couldn't keep his eyes off you."

"Neither could _you_," Stella reminded him. "And Ricky stares at everyone. It's just his thing."

"What are you two talking about?" Squid asked, stepping into the shed.

"Zigzag's thing," Zane smirked, and Stella rolled her eyes at Squid's expression.

"Not _that_, Alan," Stella sighed. "I'm saying he stares at everyone." A look of comprehension dawned on Alan's face.

"Oh, got it," he frowned. "Zero's lookin' for you."

"What's he want?"

"How the hell should I know?" Squid asked softly. "He doesn't talk."

"Then how do you know he wants to see me?"

"He's got that lost-puppy look in his eyes," Squid sighed. Stella took the excuse to get away from interrogation and walked out of the shed.

Stella had finished teaching Zero the alphabet and they were on to longer words now. The next day, the day Stella anticipated, for it meant Mick would be hauled off to an adult prison, Zero dug some of her hole while she waited in line for lunch. She came back and saw her hole larger than she recalled.

"What's this?" she laughed, measuring. There were only a few more inches to go. "Zero, you didn't have to do this." Zero just shrugged and continued digging his smaller-than-usual hole.

"Why'd you dig my hole?" Stella asked. She was quietly annoyed; she was good at digging now, with a fast and steady pace.

"You didn't steal the sunflower seeds," he said quietly. _That was ages ago_, Stella thought, surprised at how long ago it had been.

"Yeah, but neither did you," she said.

"You didn't steal the shoes," Zero said even more quietly. Stella frowned at him. How would he know that? She'd never told anyone she was 'innocent'. In this place it didn't matter. She sighed and shook her head. "Look, you're a slow digger."

"You mean in comparison to you!" Stella laughed at the insult.

"This way we'll be done at the same time," Zero shrugged. Stella returned to her hole, running her hand through Zero's tight curls as she walked off.

When they returned to camp, Mick's cot was empty. It was a little after noon, and lunch was still available to the campers who had finished digging and the councillors. Stella had duty of distributing sandwiches to the various occupants of the camp and went into C-tent where she had seen Handsome Rob's figure where the guys had pulled the 'wall' of the tent up and fastened it out of the way to attract a cool night breeze when the sun would go down.

"Hey Stella," Zane smiled as she entered the tent, brushing the door flap aside.

"Whoa! Whoa! Whoa!" There was a new boy: He looked older than the others, with ripped sleeves, a closely-trimmed goatee and an ear-piercing. "We didn't get a chance to meet yet." He held out his hand. "I'm Wrench." _Joyrider_, Stella instantly presumed, and she was right.

"Bologna and cheese," she said, handing him a sandwich.

"Oh! That's cold," Wrench laughed good-naturedly. She walked over to the other side of the tent to Handsome Rob. "Damn that's cold." Rob laughed, his big white smile bright against his dark skin. She handed him a sandwich, a cookie and an apple, and handed Wrench the last pieces of his lunch. Stella went to the tent next-door and plonked down on her cot before Zero returned from his shower. She had already showered, playing with the long blonde locks of hair, frowning at them. She didn't like her hair, suddenly.

"Hey Zero! Have you seen Zane?" Stella asked as Zero walked in, rubbing his hair dry. He looked around with wide eyes and nodded. "I'll be right back." She hopped off of her cot and out of the tent. She knew where he would be; he was always in that armchair by the foosball table with his foot up on one of the bar stools that belonged to the old saloon. And there he was; alone in the rec room listening to His Radio. When Zane was in the rec room, no one else got to tamper with the radio station. It was always turned to rock or metal, depending on how broody he was.

"Hey Broody," Stella smiled. Zane glanced up from the opponent in his staring contest- a knot in the wooden floorboard. Stella squatted beside his chair and put her arms on the arm of the chair as Zane twisted his torso to look at her easier. "Do you know if you can cut my hair?" Zane frowned slightly.

"You mean can I get a pair of scissors to cut your hair without it looking like a hack-job?" he clarified, and Stella shrugged. He sighed thoughtfully.

"Yeah," he shrugged. "Come to the back door of the kitchen tonight after dinner's over." Stella beamed.

"Thank you," she smiled, and patting his shoulder, skipped back to the tent. Zero was waiting on her cot with her stationery box already open and her crate pulled up like a desk. He smiled as she entered the tent and Stella sat down beside him. They were working on sentences now. Zero was so eager to learn, and without blowing her own horn, Stella was a good teacher.

After dinner that night, Stella did as Zane had instructed, though she waited until the cook had gone to the small room behind Mr. Sir's office to bed and the boys had finished washing up.

"Hey!" Zane poked his head out of the back door, and Stella stood up. He ushered her inside and Stella saw a pair of kitchen scissors gleaming on the scrubbed counter.

"Okay, we need to wet your hair first," Zane said in a hushed voice. He got her to lean her head over the sink and Stella cringed as the cold and then boiling water ran through her hair, burning her scalp. She sat down on an upturned bucket and Zane stopped before he did anything.

"Are you sure?" Nod. "How short do you want it?" Stella gestured to her chin. Zane sighed and went to work. It was lucky there were no mirrors; Stella would probably have cried if she hadn't already been at Camp Green Lake for nearly two months. She had been excessively proud of the length of her naturally blonde hair: She didn't have to pay for dye-jobs or extensions. But now, she saw strands of hair almost twelve inches long fall to the floor. She closed her eyes and heard the dangerous _snip_ of sharp, heavy scissors right by her ear. He cut her bangs, which she always swept across in a side parting, and when he was finished, Zane wiped the scissors down and got the broom and brushed her hair out of the room onto the dirt outside. Stella felt somehow lopsided. Her head was too light. She felt light-headed! She ran her hands through her hair, and was startled to find a tiny inch-long ponytail. She had thick hair, and like her mother, it had always been curly no matter how long she grew it. Zane came back and stopped and stared at her.

"What?" she asked tearfully, gasping.

"No, no, it looks good," Zane said hurriedly, smiling. He reached out and pulled one of the golden curls so it sprang back. "Nothing wrong at all, Shirley Temple." Stella gave a watery smile. They walked back to the tent, arm in arm, and the boys all stopped and stared as Zane had done when they saw her hair.

"Oh my god!" Magnet laughed suddenly. Even Zero smiled at her buoyant hair.

"It's Shirley Temple!" Squid laughed. Zigzag smiled as she sank onto her cot, slightly self-conscious.

"Nice hair," he said, pulling on one of her curls. She smiled, feeling better that Ricky liked it, though she couldn't see it, and relaxed with a book. Zero was reading _Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets _now. He sat curled on his cot, reading the pages with his mouth open slightly.

"I know you like me Stella, but this is outta hand," Zigzag teased. "The hair and everything. Next thing you'll be committed for acute paranoia."

"You've never been committed," Stella laughed softly, pulling her soft cotton pajama bottoms on. Ricky shrugged, smiling lazily.


	10. Chapter 10

Stella finished digging surprisingly early, with the encouragement from Doc that she had received several letters to distribut

Stella finished digging surprisingly early, with the encouragement from Doc that she had received several letters back at camp. She followed Zero back to the compound and showered before seeking Dr. Pendanski out. No such luck; he had taken Mr. Sir's truck for the next water round. She had to wait until he had returned, shepherding several dozen boys who had finished digging.

In the rec room, Doc shouted 'Mail call' and Stella practically jumped on him for her letter. Doc tried to tease her, holding the letter as high as he could above his head, ordering her to jump for it. Stella reached up, barely straining, and took the letter out of his hand. His expression fell and she smiled as she walked out of the room. On her cot, Stella tore open her letter, which she recognised as written in her mother's handwriting.

_My dearest baby girl,_

_Things here are alright. I know Grandma told you the landlord has threatened to evict us, but we managed to persuade him out of it. By 'we' I mean your grandmother! - _Stella laughed softly_- I really do think I'm close to a breakthrough with my foot-odour invention. Your grandmother asks that I write that she is taking her medication, so not to worry. _

_Stella, __I don't know whether you have even heard from Ricky since he was sent to that juvenile camp, but last night Mrs. Chase and Evelyn were sent into the hospital after Mr. Chase beat them. The boys are alright; they managed to prevent any further hurt. I've been to see Evelyn; she's not as bad as her mother, just a broken arm and some bruises. The doctor said Maia might be in the hospital for several days, perhaps weeks. If you manage to get a hold of the address to Ricky, please try and encourage him to write to his mother and press charges; it will only get worse. The boys are staying with me and your grandmother for a while, until they find Mr. Chase- he disappeared before Maia was taken away in the ambulance. I know Ricky used to be your friend, and he always listened to you. His mother has to press charges. Tell Ricky not to worry about the cost of hospitalisation; I went to the accountant on Maia's behalf and their insurance will cover the hospital bills._

_Only sixteen __more months and you'll be home. Keep out of trouble and work hard, Love Momma. _

Stella folded her letter in numb disbelief. Grandma always said things would come to an end between Chris and Maia. It hurt Stella the most that Evelyn had been hurt because of it. Evelyn was Ricky's youngest sibling; Ricky was the oldest, and she was only twelve.

"Whoa! You look happy," Squid said, settling on Ricky's cot to frown at Stella in concern.

"Is Ricky back yet?" Stella asked in a stunned whisper. Squid thought and nodded.

"Yeah, he should just be walking back," Squid said, stripping for his shower. Stella left the tent in search of Ricky. She found him just outside the rec room, where Doc was handing him a crisp, official-looking letter.

"Don't open it," Stella ordered, quickly snatching the letter out of his hand. Ricky looked stunned for a second but frowned as he fought her for it. "Don't open it; I know what it says." Her mother's letter was clutched in her hand. "My Momma wrote me and said your mom and Evelyn have been put in the hospital." Ricky stared at her, then he laughed in disbelief.

"No they haven't," he smiled good-naturedly.

"They have!" Stella said adamantly. "Your daddy broke Evelyn's arm. John, Toby and Nathan are staying with Momma and Grandma." Ricky still didn't believe her, but she handed his letter back. He opened it and read, his chest rising and falling ever-more quickly. His lip quivered ominously and his eyes glistened.

"Hey man! Who died?" X-Ray asked. Zigzag reacted immediately, thrusting his arms out so X-Ray was thrown to the dirt. He strode across the camp to their tent. Stella offered X-Ray her hand and heaved him off the floor. "What's up with him?"

"Some…bad news from home," Stella said, shaking her head as she followed Ricky's path. She reached the tent in time to see Zero turfed out of the doors. He skidded on the dirt and groaned. Stella lifted him off the floor and brushed him down.

"Why don't you go to the rec room," she suggested quietly. "I have to talk with Ricky." Zero had been waiting for his reading lesson. Everything was already set up on Stella's cot. Ricky lay on his side, facing the other end of the tent, and Stella could see his shoulders shaking. She crawled onto her cot and sat cross-legged by his back.

"Ricky…" she said quietly. He didn't respond. He had hidden his face by his arm and all Stella could hear were muffled sobs. Eventually haggard breathing replaced his sobs and Stella continued rubbing his back comfortingly. He sighed and rolled onto his back, sitting up slowly, eyeing her embarrassedly. She brushed one of his dirt-clad curls away from his face, which was still covered in dirt but streaked where his tears had fallen.

"I should have been there," he said hoarsely, glancing at her with wide, glistening eyes. Stella shook her head and sighed.

"What would you have done? Your daddy would have tried to pin it on you like last time," Stella said, speaking common sense. "But my Momma says your brothers stopped him from hurting them any more than he already had. And she says not to worry about the hospital bills because the insurance covers it…And," she paused, glancing at him nervously, "my Momma- Momma says I have to ask you to convince your mother to press charges." She didn't know how Ricky would react to this. Mr. Chase was still his father, after all. Ricky nodded slowly, thoughtfully. He eyed Stella's cot and sprawled across the three cots they had pushed together and grabbed her stationery box and a pen and began to write, and Stella could see him crying again while he wrote. He addressed the envelope corresponding to the return address from the hospital letter and pressed a stamp to the corner.

"Why don't you go and have a shower?" Stella suggested. "You'll feel a lot better." Ricky nodded in agreement, and taking his letter and a towel, his pajamas and his shower token, he left the tent. He came back five minutes later, freshly showered in his boxers and long-sleeved grey t-shirt. Stella lay on her cot, relaxing, churning things over in her mind, and looked up from her pillow as the tent flaps were pushed aside. Ricky sighed as he slung his towel over the end of his cot and folded his jumpsuit into his crate. He crawled onto the cot beside her and nestled his head in her shoulder, curling his body as close to her as he could.

"Why does crying always make you tired?" he asked, yawning widely.

"I dunno baby," she sighed. "But I was supposed to give Zero a reading lesson this afternoon." Ricky didn't let go of her waist. Stella fell asleep with Ricky's arms around her, curling into him, her fingers intertwined with his.

Some of the boys came and went but none took any notice of them. After all, they were only sleeping. They were at dinner when the two woke up.

"Mm," Stella sighed into Ricky's chest.

"What time is it?" Stella eyed the tent flaps. It was still light outside, but by the echoes of boys' voices, she knew they were in the mess hall.

"Dinner," she sighed, pulling herself into sitting position. She sighed, "Come on, let's go eat." She pulled her boots on and Ricky found his relaxation jumpsuit crumpled under his cot and tugged it on. They walked into the mess hall, got their trays and sat down at D-tent's table.

"You feelin' better now?" Squid smirked at Ricky and Stella. Stella rolled her eyes as she picked up her knife and fork.

"Don't give us that look," Ricky ordered softly, wiping his tray with his bread. He sure was a fast eater. "We didn't _do_ anything."

"Yeah, yeah," Squid said, narrowing his eyes at Stella calculatingly. He laughed suddenly. "Man, you guys both have real bad bed-head." The boys all laughed loudly as Stella pressed the curls into her head.

"It's not my fault," she said indignantly. "I haven't seen a mirror for two months."

"Is that how long you've been here-Two months?" Squid raised his eyebrows. "I thought it was longer'n that." Stella shrugged and slumped over the table in exhaustion. Perhaps digging so quickly this morning had more of an effect on her than she'd noticed. Someone knocked her shoulder and she gasped. She peeled the sleeve of her t-shirt back and saw her skin was red-raw.

"Ouch!" Squid wrinkled his nose in sympathy. "We shoulda called you Robin Red Breast." Stella rolled her eyes and felt her shoulder blades. Her back had been burnt too. She sighed and ate the last of her chocolate pudding.

Ricky got a letter back from his mother two days later, which was quite remarkable since the mail was rarely sent out within a week of its being put in the box. He got it at dinner and read it quietly, leaning the paper away from Rex so he couldn't read it. Stella heard him sigh and folded the letter into his pocket.

"What did it say?" Stella asked as they patrolled the campsite together.

"Mom pressed charges," Ricky sighed. "Evelyn's out of hospital and staying with your mom and grandma as well as the boys. The doctor said Mom can leave next Saturday."

"That's almost two weeks," Stella frowned. Ricky shrugged.

"They found my dad," he laughed softly and shook his head. "Dad! He's in jail already for assault and attempted murder."

"Attempted murder?" Stella repeated, stunned.

"The doctor said if my mom had arrived at the hospital a minute later she might not have made it." His voice trembled. Stella put a comforting hand on his shoulder and put her arms around his neck. He slipped his arms around her waist and hugged back.

"What would I have done if you weren't here, huh? I wouldn't know Mom was in the hospital or anything, and she would've let Dad back home," Ricky smiled, pressing her little nose lightly.

Stella waited in line in front of Zero now. Zane, with all his authority, had stepped in front of X-Ray the first day he dug with D-tent. Surprisingly X-Ray said nothing: Zane had seniority over every other boy in the camp. Stella turned back to her hole and saw Zero still digging in it.

"Zero, I told you; you don't have to dig for me," she sighed, squatting at the edge of her hole. He just shrugged and dumped another load of dirt before hopping out of her hole. "Save all that extra energy your little body has for lessons tonight." Zigzag had promised to start teaching Zero algebra from a textbook Stella's grandmother had sent her by request. Stella's grandmother had written how proud she was of Stella for helping a homeless child be educated.

But it seemed Ricky had taken the news about his family badly, and he was in rather a vindictive mood by the time the lunch truck came around. He and the rest of the boys had noticed Zero digging part of Stella's hole each day, even before she had.

"Where's your whip, Mom? Don't want your slave to be slackin' off," Armpit said, rolling past Stella's hole. Stella rolled her eyes.

"Bite me," she said in a low voice.

"Line 'em up," Doc shouted, "I don't have all day." Stella crawled out of her hole and lined up behind Magnet, hearing him speak Spanish after he was once again denied a second sandwich. Squid managed to lift some extra graham crackers and split them with Zigzag. Stella returned to her hole and X-Ray shoved past her roughly. She sat down on a pile of dirt, watching Zigzag and Squid split the cookies, and Zigzag kicked Zero's foot roughly.

"Hey!" Stella was instantly alert to trouble. "How 'bout you have my cookie, and you can dig my hole." Zero just bit into his apple unconcernedly. Zigzag squatted in front of Zero, holding out one of the thin rectangular cookies. "Go on, take it."

"I get it," Zero said, holding his hands up. "I'll only dig my own hole from now on. Jus' let me eat my lunch." Zigzag straightened up and laughed.

"He isn't gonna take it," he said to Squid, squatting down again. "Come here," he thrust the cookie at Zero's face. "Eat the cookie." Zero knocked it away and dropped his apple, frowning agitatedly. Zigzag shoved him and Zero went back on his pile. He stood up and shoved Zigzag. Being only half Ricky's size, his standing up didn't create much of an effect.

"Back off, man," Zero frowned, shoving him. Zigzag shoved him again and Zero stumbled backwards into his shallow hole.

"Hey, hey, hey," Doc said good-naturedly. "What's going on here?"

"Nothing Doc," Squid said, giving Ricky a frown. "We were jus' foolin'."

"Yeah, we were jus' foolin'," Armpit agreed. Squid held out a hand to keep Zero from advancing on Zigzag.

"No, no, no, I saw what was going on," Dr. Pendanski said. "Go on Zero, teach Ricky a lesson. Hit him back."

"Yeah, teach me a lesson," Zigzag mocked, bending at the waist so he and Zero were at the same height, grinning tauntingly. Stella exchanged a look with Zane. The other boys were laughing, especially X-Ray. Zigzag shoved Zero violently.

"Hit me," he said. Zero tried to swipe at him. Zigzag tackled him to the ground. Stella and Zane were the first out of their holes as Zigzag started punching Zero in the sides. They rolled over and Zero elbowed Ricky in the stomach powerfully. Zero scrambled out of the shallow pit and Zigzag chased after him. Zero had turned around to see if he had followed and Zigzag swung his fist violently, sending Zero spinning to the floor. The boys shouted and groaned. Stella held Zigzag back and turned him around. She glared at him with sudden hatred and swung her open palm into his cheek. She bitch-slapped him hard and his face swung around. He pressed a fist to his cheek and looked at her.

"Get over there," she ordered, tugging his t-shirt around to his hole. "YOU EMBARRASS ME." She yelled so loudly and so viciously Ricky didn't dare move from his hole. Zane was already by Zero's side, trying to wake him up. Stella dealt Zero a sharp slap, albeit less powerful than the one she had given Ricky, and Zero groaned.

"Hey buddy," she said softly as his eyes opened. "You okay?" He moaned something incoherent and Dr. Pendanski made a call on his radio. _Great, now the Warden's involved_.

"Doc, what're you callin' the Warden for? You encouraged this," Stella pointed out, breathing hard as she contained anger only fit for Ricky's actions against a younger, and much smaller adversary. Dr. Pendanski just spoke to the Warden and kept Ricky and Zero separate. Zane examined Zero's bruises on his chest, declaring he hadn't broken any ribs. Zero was upset; Stella had never seen his eyes look so downcast. She wrapped her arms around him comfortingly, sat on the edge of his hole.

The Warden's car arrived and Squid stood beside his best-friend; Ricky, though he kept frowning at him disapprovingly. Both boys stood with their arms folded across their chests; Zigzag had a shovel propped on his shoulder behind his head.

"Basically, Ricky almost broke Zero's ribs," Zane said quietly.

"Basically?" Stella felt déjà vu: They had gone through the same interrogation when Mick had attacked D-tent members.

"Ziggy was beating up Zero," Stella said, frowning in the sun. "He knocked Zero unconscious and I slapped him and sent him back to his hole."

"Zig just got a little hot," X-Ray said, using the same excuse as last time. "Working out in the sun all day, our blood starts to boil."

"Is that what happened Zigzag?" the Warden turned to Ricky.

"Yeah, well like X-Ray said, working all day out in the hot sun, while Stella sits around and does nothin'," Ricky said.

"Excuse me?" Stella and the Warden said it at the same time. The Warden glanced at Stella behind her dark glasses.

"Mom digs her hole just like everyone else," the Warden said.

"Sometimes," Ricky said quietly, never meeting Stella's angry eye.

"Excuse me?"

"Ma'am," Squid said. "Zero's been diggin' a part of Stella's hole _every day_. She don't ask him to; he takes a few inches off when we're linin' up for water."

"You're not diggin' holes no more!" Mr. Sir said, angrily advancing on her. The scars on his cheek stood out vibrant red.

"I am," Stella said in disbelief as the same argument rolled over again. "I'm teaching him how to read. He wanted us to be finished the same time so he could learn more."

"What?" Mr. Sir asked flatly.

"He's a really smart boy," Stella said.

"Smart!" Dr. Pendanski laughed loudly. "Oh yeah? Hey Zero, what does C-A-T spell?" Stella knew Zero's pride wouldn't allow him to answer. "Huh? What's it spell? Yeah, he's a real genius," Dr. Pendanski summarised when Zero remained silent. "He's so stupid, he doesn't even know he's stupid."

"Okay, from now on, I don't want _anyone_ diggin' any one else's holes," the Warden said. Behind her back, Zane smirked at Stella. He was getting the feeling of déjà vu as well. "Is that clear?" She turned to Stella, pointing her folded sunglasses. "And no more readin' lessons."

"Why not?" Stella asked indignantly. "The hole gets dug, who cares who's digging it, right?"

"You know why you're diggin' holes?" Mr. Sir said angrily, "Cos it's good for yeh: Teaches yer a lesson."

"If Zero digs your hole for you, you're not learnin' your lesson, are you?" the Warden said.

"Why can't I just dig my hole and still teach him to read?" Stella asked angrily.

"Because I said so," the Warden said threateningly.

"We know you mean well Stella, but the mental stress just causes his brain too much of a challenge," Dr. Pendanski said. "That's what made his blood boil, not the hot sun."

"You wouldn't know; you're not out here all day," Stella snapped. "And you haven't heard him read. All these boys have."

"I'm not diggin' any more holes," Zero stated, glancing at Stella, and she knew he meant not digging any more holes _period_, not just hers.

"Good," the Warden said.

"I mean," Dr. Pendanski continued as if Stella hadn't even spoken, taking the shovel from Ricky's shoulder, "you might as well teach this shovel to read." Stella was beyond angry. "Go ahead Zero, take it," he said, tossing Zero the shovel. "It's all you'll ever be good for." Zero put his canteen down on the floor carefully and weighed the shovel in his hands. "D-I-G. What's that spell?" Zero thought for a second and swung the shovel blade with a grunt into Dr. Pendanski's face. Squid jumped out of the way as Doc went flying and grabbed Zigzag out of the way. The rest of the boys just stared. Stella's eyes widened.

Zero leaned over Dr. Pendanski's unconscious star-form. "Dig." Then he started running, past Zigzag and Squid, past the front of the truck, past several dozen holes. Mr. Sir chased after him with his pistol out of its holster.

"Don't shoot!" the Warden shouted worriedly. "He can't go anywhere."

"You think I was gonna shoot him!"

"The last thing we need, is an investigation," the Warden said carefully.

"I know that," Mr. Sir said. "Misinterpretation. Fine! Fine, let him go then! Let him go!"

"I want round-the-clock guards on all water sources," the Warden yelled, unscrewing the cap of Zero's old canteen and emptying its contents on Dr. Pendanski's face. She threw the empty canteen away and strode over to her car, stopping at Stella.

"I still expect eight holes," she said warningly. Stella glared at her, unafraid.

"I'll have to check in the tent nurse," Dr. Pendanski said dazedly, trying to get off the floor. "Warden?" He overbalanced and fell straight onto his face. The boys all laughed at the little man on the floor at Stella's feet. She kicked up some dirt and returned to her hole.

Stella dug Zero's hole. It was sunset by the time she had finished. She paused, looking around for any sign of life. The sun set beautiful, bright orange behind mountains. She heard people talking inside D-tent but they weren't the boys' voices.

"I'm ill; I'm feelin' queasy, take it or leave it," Mr. Sir was saying.

"Still poutin'?" the Warden asked.

"No I'm not poutin'," Mr. Sir said. "I'm just askin'. Are we sure that he had no family."

"He was a ward of the state," Dr. Pendanski said, and his happy demeanour was gone. "He was living on the streets when he was arrested."

"Is there some prissy case-worker who might ask questions?" the Warden asked.

"He had _nobody_," Dr. Pendanski said. "He _was_ nobody."

"I want you to destroy his records," the Warden said, and Stella frowned. "He was never here. Can you get into the state files from our computer?"

"I can do anything," Dr. Pendanski said in an insulted voice. "But I'm telling you, no one is going to come looking for him. Nobody _cares_ about Hector Zeroni." Stella stopped eavesdropping and strode into the tent, dumping her things on her cot.

"I do," she stated in a hoarse voice, glaring at each of the 'adults' in turn.

"They's in this thing together," Mr. Sir said in a low voice. Dr. Pendanski and the Warden exited the tent. Mr. Sir remained behind. "His blood's on your hands then."

Stella showered and went back to her tent. She didn't go for dinner. She stayed in her tent and wrote a letter to her grandmother. Before she was a teacher, Stella's grandmother had been a public defender. She would know what to do regarding Zero. As night fell, the boys trickled into the tent and stripped to their t-shirts and boxers. Usually Stella enjoyed this display. Today it just reminded her where she was. For so long she had lived like this place was her home, these boys were her family. Now she recalled that they were here because one way or another, they had all broken the law. Zane was still in the kitchen doing the washing up. Stella lay on her cot, staring angrily at the ceiling. The boys had gathered under the one lightbulb to talk.

"Man, if he's not back by morning," Armpit sighed, "he's dead."

"He's dead either way," X-Ray said pessimistically. "If he stays out there or if he comes back."

"Hey, when d'you think they're gonna find his body?" Zigzag asked quietly.

"What body?" Squid frowned. "Man, Zero's buzzard food… You know what? They pick out the eyeballs first."

"I can't believe you just said that," X-Ray said disgustedly.

"Squid that's disgusting," Zigzag said. Stella turned over on her cot, away from them, sighing to keep from letting the burning sensation in her throat make her cry. They were talking about Zero's death like it was a joke. And they were laughing at what Squid had said. The boys noticed, Magnet first.

"Come on, we were just playing, dog," Magnet said, trying to hush them. Stella knew he was probably nodding or pointing at her, but she didn't look at them. Zane's cot was empty; if he had been here he would have told the boys to shut their mouths or they'd be eating their next meal without any teeth. She didn't have the energy to scold them. They didn't understand and didn't want to, that it wasn't funny to joke about someone's life. The boys quieted and Stella felt someone walk to her cot. Before Ricky had returned from the mess hall she had shoved his cot away from hers, close to Squid's, his real girlfriend's, she thought maliciously, but kept close to Zane's, and when he returned, she cuddled up with him. He didn't object, and smirked over her shoulder at Ricky, whose face fell.


	11. Chapter 11

Stella was angry

Zane helped dig Zero's hole. Stella finished it alone, sending him back to camp when it got dark. She sat on the edge of the finished hole, thinking.

"_She left her stranded in the desert, no food, little water, for sixteen days with a baby, me," Grandma had said._

"_But Grandma, how'd you survive?"_

"_Mother said she'd found refuge on God's Thumb," Grandma said._

"_What's God's Thumb?"_

"_Who knows?" Grandma laughed. "She was half-crazy when we were found."_

Stella stood up with her shovel and cupped her hands around her mouth: "ZERO!" She shouted several more times but there was never any reply, not even carried on the wind.

Stella was angry. She was angry at everyone: Zigzag, Squid, Armpit, all the boys, the councillors, Mr. Sir, especially Pendanski, and the Warden. She was angry at her no-good-money-stealing-great-great-grandmother. But mostly, she was angry at herself. She knew there was no way Zero could survive out in the desert. He had run away with no canteen and only a shovel.

_What I should do_, Stella thought, _is take the water to him_. No one helped her dig Zero's hole but Zane. She remained outside in the hottest part of the day, digging, all the while keeping a look out for Zero. Zero never came back. It would have been easy to go after Zero: No one would stop him. Hell, nobody would care, except maybe Zane, and Squid might care that he had lost his best-friend. He wasn't too thrilled with Zigzag for beating up a kid six years younger than himself.

_Maybe we can climb to the top of God's Thumb_, Stella thought, and it made her smile for a few minutes. Her great-grandmother had been found in the Texas desert. There was a good chance the mountain was one of the ones encircling the desert. And if her grandmother had survived there, surely they could. But after a hundred years of desert, would the same resources be available?

And even if they did reach God's Thumb, they would have to come back to camp eventually, and face the Warden with her rattlesnake fingers. _We can take her_, Stella thought, hacking angrily at the wall of her hole. _I can beat her up from the front, Zero can strangle her from behind, and Zane, well if he came he'd strangle her too._ The thought, and the image that went with it, was comforting. The Warden was a nasty woman who deserved any bad thing that came her way. Stella frowned as she remembered how excited the Warden had been when they'd found the golden tube, how long they were required to work to find whatever it was that was buried with the tube. How Stella was the only one who knew where the tube had really been uncovered. She remembered the lipstick tube and the initials, the large boulder, the Warden striking Mr. Sir when she'd thought they'd found something. Stella was looking to disappoint her some more.

By the next morning, Zero still had not returned. Stanley saw one of the councillors, not the nice one who slipped them extra shower tokens if they finished early, guarding the water spigot with a rifle on his knee.

Stella was required to dig only one hole that day. She kept searching the horizon, but she soon came to the sad conclusion that it was too late. Her only hope was that Zero had managed to find God's Thumb. Her great-grandmother had found it, with a baby. For some strange urge, she had felt like climbing to the top of a mountain. Perhaps Zero would feel that same urge.

If it was the same mountain. If there was any water.

She tried to convince herself it wasn't impossible. Nothing was impossible. _Never say 'Never',_ Stella thought. There had been a storm a few days ago above the mountains. Perhaps there was somewhere where the water was trapped. Maybe a river originated there that went the other side of the mountains. It wasn't impossible.

Two days after Zero ran away a new boy arrived at Camp Green Lake. His name was Brian. Dr. Pendanski welcomed him with the same cheerful unconcern he used with everyone, but the effect was ruined by Pendanski's purple-red face. He was so swollen he couldn't open his eyes: They were slits, and tape had been pressed on his nose.

Brian sat at the dinner table, fidgeting and starting around at any new noise or face. Stella sat diagonally from him, with Magnet on one side, and Zane squished between her and Zigzag. Ricky had avoided Stella when Zane was around, knowing how protective Zane, and even Alan were of hurting Stella's feelings. And since Zigzag had been the first small stone in the landslide that led to Zero's escape and suicide mission, Stella was beyond hurt by him.

"So what you in here for Twitch?" X-Ray asked Brian. He glanced up, his fingers tapping on the wooden table. He was a young boy, maybe thirteen, with a black-and-red visor and a red cloth draped around his neck. He had been assigned to Zero's cot and Zero's crate.

Vacancies don't last long at Camp Green Lake.

Brian, or Twitch, laughed.

"Oh, joyridin'," he said happily. Stella stared at him unblinkingly, playing with her food absently. "I guess I never really planned on stealing one or nothing, but when I walked past a really nice car, Oooh," he started twitching uncontrollably at the very thought, "I just start twitching, you know."

"Oh, you think I'm jumpy now," Twitch laughed softly, tapping his fingers. Nearly everyone in the mess hall was watching him closely. New meat was hard to come by, "you shoulda seen me behind the wheel of that Mustang convertible."

Mr. Sir drove the water truck.

"C'mon Twitch, let's go," Zigzag called. Stella went over to his hole, where he was groaning and set his shovel down.

"Twitch, get some water," X-Ray called, strutting over to Mr. Sir. Stella exchanged a nod with Zane.

"First hole's the hardest," Stella said, holding her hand out to Twitch. She pulled him effortlessly out of his hole and examined his hands as they walked to the back of the line. Zane had his canteen filled first as usual, and when he walked away, out of Mr. Sir's sight, Stella was relieved when Magnet and Squid started their daily argument about the water line. Stella peered into the passenger seat as Zane slipped into the driver's seat through the open window. Twitch came with her, glancing at her nervously. Stella imitated what Zane had done and climbed quietly into the truck, careful not to throw her weight around. Twitch glanced back at Mr. Sir and nodded when he saw the man had gone to break up the argument between Squid and Magnet.

Zane turned the key in the ignition and put the truck in gear.

"Go on, go on!" Twitch laughed, as Mr. Sir jumped at the sound of his truck starting seemingly by itself. Zane stomped on the gas and Stella laughed as they tore away on the rough road Mr. Sir had created by countless trips beforehand. Stella glanced out of the back. Mr. Sir was running after them, grabbing hold of the open window frame, but he lost his legs and was being dragged along.

"You stop this truck!" he started waving his arms in front of Zane's face, shouting incoherently. They drove past a hole and Mr. Sir was thrown into it. Stella and Zane laughed loudly as a cloud of dust rose from the hole. Boys were shouting and laughing with delight as they drove past, swinging their canteens above their heads.

"Goodbye Camp Green Lake!" Stella laughed loudly. A sudden noise emitted from nowhere. "I hear birds." Zane groaned as he checked the gas meter.

"The fool has an empty tank of gas!" Zane swore. Stella glanced out of the back again. Mr. Sir was trying his best to run after them determinedly.

"Stop the truck!" Stella ordered. Zane glanced at her. "Put it in a hole." Stella braced herself as Zane did as he was told, pitching the truck into one of the holes. Water from the tank streamed over the windshield. Zane flung his door open, grabbed his canteen and her arm and they clambered out of the truck. The momentary shock that swept over Mr. Sir afforded them a good head start, and they could hear him gasping, "My truck!"

"You okay?" someone yelled, and glancing back before they started sprinting, Stella could see all of D-tent and the other guys running over, shouting.

"You've done it now!" Mr. Sir swore. "You've done it now! Get back, away from that truck." Stella and Zane started a race, to see who could get past the last hole first, grinning as they tore away from the boys. And Stella realised she should have at least put on her sports bra. She had been digging without a bra for at least seven weeks, since she had lost her weight and they no longer fit. She pelted past holes and even managed to laugh. Zane sprinted beside her with his canteen clutched in his hand. At least they'd have some water for Zero to drink. They both glanced behind when they tied getting to the last hole, and saw all of the campers surrounding the truck, jumping and yelling and laughing after them. Mr. Sir hitched up his belt and shouted something after them, but they were so far away they couldn't hear. They reached flatland, where only a couple of holes had been dug sporadically. Stella peered into one and saw it was infested with Yellow Spotted Lizards. Zane kept her back from it: Yellow Spotted Lizards have exceptionally strong hind legs that allow them to jump and attack their prey.

"Uh-uh," Stella sighed. "No senǒr! Not for me."

"I'm not gonna see what's not there," Doc said, bringing the binoculars from his deformed face. Alan kept close to the three adults so he knew what was going on, and what might happen if Stella were to return with Zane and Zero.

"Alright, fill in this section here, and then start digging over there in between," the Warden instructed from her clipboard.

"What're we gon' do about Mom? She's not like Zero or Zane: She's got family," Mr. Sir said in a low voice, but Squid, lifting his canteen, heard him nonetheless.

"In two weeks," the Warden sighed, "we'll report she's run away. Call in dogs, helicopters, the whole nine yards."

"By then, there'll be nothing left to find," Mr. Sir frowned.

"That's exactly right," the Warden nodded. Squid appreciated the mildly troubled look on Mr. Sir's face. The councillors would never admit it, but they all liked Stella. She was a person wholly unspoiled. She was lovely and sweet even after hours of digging and malnutrition.

The boys were ordered to get Mr. Sir's truck out of the hole, and then when some of B- and C-tent had pushed it all the way back to camp, the other boys had to finish digging their holes. Alan finished Stella's. Twitch was still jumpy and laughing hysterically at what had transpired.

They slowed to a walk, taking small sips of water each to save it. They reached a nettled old bush, in which a sunflower seed sack had been caught between the thorns. Stella picked it up, thinking it might be good to carry something. They walked the same road that, one-hundred-and-ten years ago, Sam the onion-picker had led Mary Lou and his onion cart to his onion field, where the onions grew year round and the water ran uphill. They couldn't even see the camp compound any more through the heat haze.

"Hey, what's that?" Zane asked quietly, frowning as he wiped his mouth of water. Stella took the canteen and put the cap back on. She followed Zane's gaze as he squinted, without a hat, over to a small mound in the earth. It was coloured differently to everything around it. It was raised from the ground, tipped up slightly. It looked like the bottom of something made of planks of wood. In a land of nothingness, anything seemed unusual.

Stella walked over to it cautiously. Zane followed even more warily: he had been on the 'lake' longer than Stella and knew what kinds of things liked to live in the shade. She laughed softly as she saw what it was: It was a boat, or partway of a boat, anyway. It was so comical to see an upturned and ancient boat in the middle of a barren and desolate wasteland.

_Someone may have drowned here_, Stella thought grimly, in the very place she and Zane would probably die of thirst. She found it ironic enough to light a small smile across her face. She walked around the boat; on the opposite side from where they had been walking there were two piles of dirt on either side of a small tunnel, the size required for a good-sized animal to get through. Someone had hollowed out the inside of the boat. She bent at the waist, frowning into the tunnel. She gasped and snatched at Zane's arm. The sole of a small, heavy black boot stuck out under the faded, blue-painted wood of the boat, and beyond it she could see the bright orange of a jumpsuit.

"Zero?" The foot didn't move.


	12. Chapter 12

"Zero

"Zero?" she repeated hopefully, a little louder. Her hopes would have been crushed if that foot hadn't moved. She gasped in delight as someone turned under the boat and stuck their tightly-curled and dusty head out of the shade into the bright noon-sun.

"Huh?" the little, hoarse voice said, squinting. "Stella." She and Zane ran to the boat and Stella hugged Hector close.

"What's up man?" she asked, laughing softly. "How you doing?"

"Alright," Zero croaked.

"We thought you were gone," Zane said, grinning broadly as he peered into Zero's eyes.

"I thought I was," Zero said.

"You don't look too bad," Zane gasped.

"You got any water?" Zero asked croakily.

"Yeah," Zane took the canteen from around his neck and unscrewed it. "Go easy, okay, we don't have any more." Zero took the canteen gratefully and did as he was told, taking a large gulp and recapping it.

"Hey, you know the water truck?" Zane asked. Zero yawned, resting his head against the side of the boat, and nodded. "We tried to drive the whole thing over here for you. Of course, Mr. Sir didn't have a tank of gas, so-"

"We drove it into a hole," Stella giggled. Zero laughed croakily and rolled his eyes.

"Figures," he sighed. "What's in the bag?" Stella looked down at the burlap sack she had clenched in her hand.

"Oh, it's empty," Stella sighed. Zane propped himself up on his haunches and glanced back into the haze.

"Zero, we've gotta get back to camp," he said calmly. He was always level-headed.

"I'm not going back," Zero frowned. Stella shook his head and shrugged. "Want some sploosh?"

"Some what?" Stella asked. Zero shaded his eyes with his arm.

"It's cooler under the boat," he said, "come on." Stella exchanged a frown with Zane, but Zero had already crawled back under the boat. Zane shrugged and Stella followed him, surprised how easily she could fit through the small Zero-sized hole.

"My god I've lost a lot of weight," she sighed, as Zane grunted, pushing through the dirt. Zero widened the hole with the shovel he had brought with him and Zane curled up beside Stella, sighing in the cool, dim light. Stella could see empty jars scattered about. Zero held another jar in his hand and tried to unscrew the lid.

"What is it?"

"Sploosh," Zero said. "At least, that's what I call it. There were jars and jars of it buried under here." He couldn't get the lid off. Zane tried it, but even he wasn't strong enough to break the seal.

"Here, hand me the shovel," Zero said, his voice becoming clearer after drinking some water. Zane, closest to the hole, reached for the shovel and handed it to Zero, blade first. Zero took it and whacked the lid of the jar against the sharp blade several times before they all heard a small _smash_ of glass. He quickly brought the jar to his lips and licked the sploosh off the jagged edges before it spilled.

"Careful," Stella warned. Zero picked the cracked lid off the floor and licked that too. He handed the broken jar to Zane, the closest to him.

"Try it, it's _good_," Zero said enthusiastically. Stella peered closer: the sploosh looked like mud. Whatever it was, she realised, it had been buried when the boat sank, and that was over a hundred years ago. Who knew what kind of bacteria was living in it. But the jar had been tightly sealed; not even Zane's oversized muscles could open it. Zane took a sip of the sploosh and made a noise, "_Mm_." He licked his lips and passed the jar to Stella, licking the sploosh off his fingers. Stella took the jar, frowning at it, and careful of the broken glass, took a sip of the sploosh. It was a warm, bubbly, mushy nectar, sweet and tangy. It felt like heaven, floating down her throat. She licked her lips and took another sip: She recognised the taste.

"It's peaches," she frowned. She handed the jar to Zane. "Peaches, and cinnamon. They're spiced peaches. My grandma makes them in spring."

"I told you it was good," Zero smiled.

"How many are left?" Zane asked, taking another sip. Zero sighed.

"That's the last one," he said sadly, licking the lid. Stella sighed.

"We need to go back to camp," Zane said. "So, let's wrap this up, get your shovel, and we'll go."

"I'm not going back," Zero frowned. Stella leaned over Zane's torso.

"You will _die out here_," she said severely.

"I'm not going back," Zero repeated. Stella shook her head.

"Here's what we're gonna do," she propositioned, "we're gonna go back to camp, and I'll tell the Warden exactly where I found Kate Barlow's lipstick tube, and she'll be so happy, we won't get in any trouble." Zero just drank more sploosh.

"Kate Barlow is my great-grandmother," Zane said suddenly, frowning at the light splashing inside from the tunnel.

"Huh?"

"Kissin' Kate Barlow," he said. "She was a schoolteacher in Green Lake, Texas, before they shot a man she fell in love with. She was widowed before my grandfather was ten, so she took him with her when she eluded a posse, and then my grandfather found someone and had my father, and then I was born just before my parents died in a car accident." Zane looked so sad, Stella knew he wasn't lying. And the pictures from the Wanted posters in the Warden's cabin showed the same wide eyes and cute little turned-up nose. She found it interesting how someone so pretty could have caused so much fear and trouble. But then her grandma had been cute and pretty too, and she was the hardest woman Stella had ever met, harder than the Warden. She added her grandmother choking the Warden to death with Zero and Zane.

Zero didn't seem to have paid attention to Stella's plan.

"What's Mar-ya- Lu-oh-oo?" he asked.

"What?" Stella frowned in surprise. Zero concentrated hard.

"Mar-ya- Luh-oh-oo. I'll show you," Zero said, crawling back outside. He beckoned them to follow. Zane was frowning as he followed Stella. Zero crouched on the ground and pointed to something written upside down on the boat in faded red letters. Stella turned her head to read it.

"Oh, that's 'Mary Lou'," Stella smiled. "It's the name of the boat."

"Mary Lou," Zero repeated, frowning. "But I thought the 'y' made the 'yuh' sound."

"It does at the beginning of a word, but not at the end of a…" Stella trailed off, staring at something in the distance. "Word." Zane groaned as he pulled himself out of the hole without help from Stella. He sighed and flopped against the dirt pile beside her.

"You see that mountain over there," she said, pointing to a mountain with an obscure shape at the top, "what does that look like to you guys?" Zero and Zane both turned to frown at it. Zero stuck his thumb up, and Zane nodded.

"You know my great-grandmother almost died out here," Stella said. They had packed up the unbroken jars in case they might need them and Zane carried the shovel and canteen. They started walking to God's Thumb. "She was robbed by Kissin' Kate Barlow, _your _great-grandmother," Stella pointed out, laughing, "and she kissed my great-grandfather. My grandmother was only a few months old. Kate Barlow left them stranded here with only a little bit of water."

"Really?" Zero asked, and Stella nodded.

"Grandma said they found refuge on God's Thumb," she said, pointing to the mountain in the distance. It was the hottest part of the day, but at least they had some water.

"I wonder who she was," Zero said a while later, thoughtfully, to himself almost.

"Who?"

"Mary Lou," Zero said.

"Maybe she lived in Green Lake, before, when it was still a lake," Stella suggested.

"I bet she was pretty," Zero smiled, and Stella knew by his relaxed smile that he was daydreaming. She nudged Zane, who glanced at Zero and grinned knowingly. "They must have loved her a lot, to name a boat after her."

The slope up to the mountain went up in a smooth 30° angle. It was rocky, with tufts of grey bushes and some scraggly trees. They stopped once they got to the sheer rock face. Wind and weather had eaten away at the side of the mountain. The side went up sharply, but there were many footholds. She thought they looked like stalagmites and stalactites joined together. Pausing for a tiny bit of water Zane allowed them, just to keep a conserve, they all took in the distance, and the sheer drop.

"That's a long way," Zero sighed.

"Yup," Stella agreed.

"We'd better get up before dark," Zane urged them. So they started to climb. They could no longer see God's Thumb. The rocks also blocked out the sun, which was a welcome relief. They distributed their baggage: Zane took the shovel, Stella took the sack of empty jars, and Zero slung the canteen over his shoulder. They started climbing up a rut in the side of the mountain, Zane first, then Zero, and Stella brought up the rear. It was quickly determined Zane was the most sure-footed and he led the way safely, criss-crossing the rut from ledge to ledge. They stopped about two-thirds of the way up the fifty-foot face and sat on a particularly wide ledge for a drink.

"What do you think is up there?" Zero asked, accepting Zane's help up to the next ledge.

"Probably a big Dairy Queen," Stella said.

"Good!" Zane sighed. "I could use a hot-fudge sundae." Zero agreed. Stella wanted one of the slushies from Sonic. They didn't know how far they had been climbing. They tended to stick to the edge so they could map out the rest of their path.

"You know what I keep thinking about?" Zane asked, stepping up to a wide ledge that jutted out of the face of the rock. He pulled Zero after him and offered Stella a hand.

"What?"

"Imagine how fine Miss Mary Lou probably looked in a bikini," Zane said, grinning, wiping sweat from his forehead. Zero giggled and Stella tickled his side. The climb got easier as the rock face started leaning into the middle, no longer vertical, and the shade made it easier to see. Zane went up one particularly difficult patch of rock and pulled Zero up without effort. Stella passed the bag up to him before reaching for the handholds.

"Whoa!" Zane gasped. "Don't look down." Now, whenever anyone says this, it is automatically assumed the character in question will turn to look. So I'm just going to write it that Stella does look.

"Oh my god!" Stella laughed. "We've come a long way."

"Come on Stella, you can do it," Zero encouraged, and both he and Zane looked down at her from the ledge. Zane patted the rock where he had used it as a handhold. "Grab right there?"

"Yeah," Zane gasped. "That's where I got it." Stella had to jump slightly to reach Zane's handhold. She didn't quite reach it and swung, with one hand grasping the rock.

"No! No, no, no," Zero shouted. Zane immediately reacted, thrusting his hand down and grabbing her other arm. He grunted as he pulled her up. Stella scrabbled with her feet to find footholds to help him. She grabbed the rock and Zane managed to pull her safely up to the ledge. He lay on his back, panting, with Stella lying on top of him in life-flashing-before-her-eyes fright. Stella rolled over, panting, her eyes closed, and started to laugh breathlessly.

"Whoo!" she shouted down the mountain, seeing how far they had climbed. "Wow, man! Look at that." Zane groaned and pulled the leg of his jumpsuit up. His left shin had a tattoo on the side, of something Stella couldn't make out. But she could see a gash in his leg.

"Look at this," he moaned. "This isn't cool."

"What happened?" Stella gasped, still a little thrown-off by her near-fatal plunge a hundred feet down a mountain face. "All right, come here." She pulled a handkerchief out of her deep pocket and saw it was still clean. She ripped it into shreds and tied them around Zane's strong leg. One of the glasses in the burlap sack had broken and cut his leg. There was no glass inside the cut, but they discarded the bloody piece of glass, saving the others in case they needed a makeshift knife.

"Ah!" Zane gasped. "It stings, man."

"You're such a pussy Zaney," Stella sighed, rolling her eyes as she tied the makeshift bandage. "Don't think about it now. When we get to the top of this mountain, I'll get you both a hot-fudge sundae each."

"Good," Zero sighed, starting to climb again. "All that sploosh is getting to me."

"Maybe they found Zero," Magnet said in tired hopefulness. "Maybe they're all still alive." X-Ray tutted.

"Maybe the Easter Bunny and the Tooth-fairy are still alive, too," he said.

"Yeah, maybe my mom'll stop drinking and my dad'll come home," Alan growled tiredly. They had finished digging, and were walking back to the campsite. Mr. Sir's truck had been removed from the hole and everyone was more tired than usual. Alan glared around. He didn't want to believe Stella was gone. He had found a true friend, someone who would do anything for him, and she was out there in the desert with one canteen of water and two boys. Without him. He knew she was doing exactly for Zero what she would have done for him. The thought that someone cared about him so much made Alan feel good, as if no matter what, if she smiled and hugged him, she was going to make everything okay. She was like the sister he had always wanted, a great role-model for the woman he wanted his mother to be.

"Man, when Mom and Zane stole that truck," Twitch's high voice said in awe, shaking his head as Squid glanced back.

"That was awesome," Zigzag smiled, brushing Twitch's shoulder. He had been in a bad mood all day, since Stella took off, and no one was going to say anything to provoke him.

"Yeah man," Armpit gasped from the back of their group, walking with his shovel as a cane. "Mom did have style."

"She still does," Alan snapped at the same time Ricky did.

"Give me another word," Zero requested. Climbing was considerably easier now, the rocks climbing gently.

"R-O-C-K," Stella said.

"Ruh- Rock," Zero said, frowning in concentration as Zane climbed a smooth dome to the next flat ledge.

"Yeah, that's right man," Zane encouraged, "you're doing good." Stella was a little ways behind them. She saw Zero stop and start coughing, while he tried to follow Zane. He couldn't do it, and dropped the shovel, bending over double, clutching his stomach.

"Zero!" Zane turned and looked down at them. Stella hurried to get to Zero as he wretched and threw up. He was on his knees, and suddenly he lost all the strength he had left and fell to his side. The rock curved downwards and behind the dome, creating a ditch where two boulders met.

"Whoa! Whoa, Zero," Stella went after him and Zane slid back down the rock. She managed to stop him from hurting himself and unhooked the curls that had tangled with the scraggly bushes. "I've got you, I've got you Zero." She stepped in front of him and pulled his legs down so he was lying comfortably. The drop, had he fallen any farther, would have been fatal. Zane unscrewed the canteen and held it to Zero's lips. He drank a little and started coughing again, but less violently.

"Hey Stella," Zero sighed, and it was like Zane wasn't even there. Zero had something to say and he needed to say it. "I gotta tell you something…"

"What?" Stella asked, but Zero's head lolled. He was asleep.

"No, Zero, you can't sleep," Zane said, rubbing the boy's chest to wake him up. Zero groaned. The sploosh had gotten to him as it said it had, making him ill. Three days without water had been hard on him.

"All right, we can't sit here," Stella decided. "We've got to keep going. Zane's gonna go get the shovel, and we're going to fill it full of ice cream for you." Zero moaned as Stella lifted his frail little body.

"You want me to carry him?" Zane asked quietly. Stella shook her head.

"No, you're more sure-footed than I am," she said. "I need you to pick the safest path. Help me, would you?" Zane helped secure the sleeping Zero on Stella's back like she was giving him a piggy-back ride. Zane took the shovel and bag, and Stella draped the canteen over her neck and shoulder.

They started to climb, slowly but surely, and Stella played the stories of Madame Zeroni and Kissin' Kate Barlow in her mind.

_You must carry Madame Zeroni up the mountain, and sing while I drink, so I can get strong too…_

Darkness fell, and as it did so, clouds of bugs appeared above weed patches. A swarm of gnats hovered around them, attracted to their sweat. Neither Stella nor Zane had the strength to swat them away. They were walking half-asleep with their eyes closed, treading on ground that became increasingly softer.

"Damn bugs!" Zane swore, waving the shovel around to get rid of the gnats. He slowed and Stella adjusted her speed. "Wait, wait! If there's bugs, that means there must be…" They both opened their eyes.

"Water!" they gasped. Stella could hear the croaking and gulping of small frogs, and the rush of water. In front of them, they saw the desert. Stella even thought she saw the floodlights outside of the councillors' RVs. To their right, the mountain climbed up again but was inaccessible. A small waterfall fell clear and bubbling into a large pool surrounded by tall, strong grasses. A familiar smell clung to the air but Stella couldn't quite place it. Zane laughed loudly and whooped.

"Zero wake up!"

"Hector, wake up," Stella laughed, as she jogged over to a large flat ledge perfectly crafted for people to sleep on. Zane helped her get Zero onto the ledge and they laughed.

"Wake up Hector," Stella grinned, slapping his cheeks gently. She got a handful of water from a small little stream sourced from the pool and splashed it on Zero's face. He jumped and woke with a start, blinking around like a little owl. Zane was already by the pool, drinking the cool, clear water.

"Oh! Drink some of this," he called, and Stella knelt beside him. Stella cupped her hands and drank the water; it was icy cold and refreshing.

"I guess…if we had suits…we could swim," Zane said. Stella gave him a sideways glance.

Grinning, they stripped out of their jumpsuits, throwing their boots to the ledge. Stella tore her t-shirt off and remained in just her string-bikini underwear as they jumped into the water. Stella surfaced, shivering excitedly.

"Cold! Cold, cold," Zane laughed, shaking, as he rose from under the water. "Come on, Hector, get in here."

"Dude, this feels so good," Stella laughed, pushing Zane back under the water by his shoulders. Zero took his boots and his jumpsuit off and jumped from a rock into the pool. The water woke them up, and they spent a good amount of time fooling around in the water, splashing each other and dunking each other under the surface. When they were tired, they clambered out of the water, got dressed and lay in the tall grass, looking up at the stars. Stella frowned as she saw the grass. It looked too thick and sturdy to be _normal _grass. She pulled on the shoots and something large and purple followed it. Zero drank from the stream and sighed.

"What is it?" Zane asked, frowning at the bulb Stella had pulled up. She frowned and wiped the roots off the purple bulb and bit into it without thought. The hot, bitter juice of an onion burst into her mouth, warming her as she swallowed.

"Here, try this," she said, handing it to Zero.

"What is it?" Zero repeated curiously.

"It's a hot fudge sundae, now eat it," Stella ordered. Zero bit into the onion and sighed.

"That's the sweetest onion I ever tasted," Zane said once he had taken a bite. Stella took the onion back and chewed on it as she sang;

"If only, if only," the woodpecker sighs,

"The bark on the tree was as soft as the skies."

While the wolf waits below, hungry and lonely,

He cries to the moon,

"If only, if only."

She closed her eyes and kept singing, softly, while the boys drifted off to sleep.

Sandy sighed and moved the bowl of onions Ma had put next to the stove onto the hood. She let go and the bowl slid, with one of the diced peaches above, into one of her experimental vats. Sandy sighed in exasperation.

"Ma! How many times have I told you not to leave this stuff lying about?" she said, fishing the bowl out of the vat. Just in case, she leaned over it and sniffed, and frowned at the smell she met. She sniffed again, picking up her tongs and picking the shoe out of the vat by its tongue. She glanced up at her mother, sitting with Evelyn at the table, eating her raspberry sorbet. She approached the table carefully, holding the shoe in her thickly-gloved hands.

"Ma?" Her mother's head turned and she dropped her spoon as she rolled her eyes. "Would you smell the shoe?"

"Oh my god, honey, can't you just wait until I've finished eating?" Ma said exasperatedly.

"I know I've asked you a million times," Sandy said. "Just a million and one-more." Ma sighed resignedly and passed her nose over the shoe.

"Honey, I don't smell anything," she said dismissively.

"What?" Her mother did a double take. Evelyn looked up from her pre-algebra homework.

"I don't smell anything," she said again, her jaw open a little bit.

"Uh huh," Sandy nodded. "Evelyn?" Evelyn sniffed the shoe and shrugged. "Boys? What about you?" The boys all reported they didn't smell anything. Sandy turned back to her mother.

"Peaches and onions, that's the secret," Sandy whispered in awe. She had done it! She had found the cure for foot-odour.

"I don't smell anything," Ma said in shock.

"You don't smell anything," Sandy said in a sing-song voice.

"I don't smell anything," Ma laughed, starting to rise from her seat. Sandy pulled off her gloves and started dancing with her mother.

"I told you I was on the brink," she said, "of no stink."

"Sandy doesn't smell anything," Ma laughed. "She doesn't smell anything!" Evelyn and the boys all laughed at their lunacy and started joining in their dance.

Their piles of eaten onions had risen considerably. The empty jars had been filled with water like Zane's canteen. Stella had woken up in a meadow full of onions. The pool stood in the corner. Across the desert she could see the thousands of holes puncturing the land like someone had taken a hole-punch to it in anger. She could see the camp, a tiny spot no bigger than her thumbnail. The boys would already be out digging. They had slept in. She had woken at eight o'clock by Zane's worn watch, for the first time in three months. She heard Zane squelching in the mud back from the little gully they had designated for the 'little boys' and girl's room'.

"Rise and shine Onion Man," Zane called to Zero, who was still sleeping, curled in a ball in the soft grass that actually was grass and not onions. The onions occupied a cultured square in the meadow, as if someone had been farming them. Zero squeezed his eyes and rolled over. "You've been farting a lot; we can't sleep." Stella laughed softly, looking out past the pool to the camp.

"You overslept," Zane concluded.

"How long have I been asleep?" Zero asked groggily.

"A long time," Zane laughed good-naturedly. "I'll go fill this canteen again." They had been drinking the pool water by the gallon.

"Stella, I gotta tell you something," Zero said quietly, looking at his feet as he crossed his legs.

"What?" Stella asked, biting into an onion.

"It's my fault I got sent to Camp Green Lake. I stole the shoes," Zero said plainly. Stella looked up, her mouth full of onion meat. "I didn't know they were Sweet Feet's. I mean, a lot of people donated all their old stuff to the homeless shelter. I saw the shoes and I just…I liked them. I didn't know they were famous. Next thing I know, everyone's bugging out, 'The shoes are gone, the shoes are gone'. Walking across the overpass, I heard the sirens coming after me, and I just got scared." Stella remembered walking _under_ the overpass as the shoes fell on her head. She laughed softly and Zero frowned. "I ended up getting busted the next day, lifting a pair of shoes from a Payless." Stella shook her head, amused.

"It's destiny," she laughed softly, and Zane returned with his canteen filled to the brim with clear water.


	13. Chapter 13

The boys were walking back to the camp when they saw a shiny black car speeding across the desert, in the same direction they

The boys were walking back to the camp when they saw a shiny black car speeding across the desert, in the same direction they were walking, to the camp.

"Hey yo! Check it out!"

"Maybe they're coming for Stella's body," Ricky said morosely. Stella's disappearance had hit him hard; his heart was breaking. He hadn't meant to start fighting with Zero. He was just angry with his dad and Zero was the only person who wouldn't stand up for himself.

"Ooh," Twitch sighed. "Jaguar; that's a nice car."

"Don't even think about it Twitch," Magnet said, not looking back to, now the smallest, member of their group. They reached the compound at the same time and Ricky stood by the wall of Mr. Sir's office, consequently the room where all their files were kept and eavesdropped. The Warden, Mr. Sir and Dr. Pendanski were inside the office with a tall, dark-haired and heavy-eyebrowed man in a sharp black suit and a pale, pink silk tie.

"Back up!" he said loudly. "You can't keep her from me. I'm Stella's attorney." _Stella's got a lawyer? They're too poor to have a lawyer_, Ricky frowned.

"Excuse me?" the Warden said over the lawyer. "I don't care if you _are_ Stella's attorney."

"You have no right!" the lawyer fumed.

"We have a right to protect our kids," the Warden shouted, and the lawyer in his too-clean suit and too-clean-cut haircut stormed out of the office, muttering vindictively to himself.

"What kind of malarkey is this? I'm telling you I'm not done with it," he said over his shoulder, swinging the door of his jaguar open, "I'll tell you that right now. Not done with you, that's right. _Excuse me_!" Ricky saw Mr. Sir peer through the slats of the blinds as the car drove away.

"We ain't seen the last of him," Mr. Sir growled. "He'll be back."

"And next time with a court-order," Dr. Pendanski said.

"We'll just tell him the truth; she ran away," the Warden said, "right?"

"She ran away after we told her she was gonna be released?" Dr. Pendanski said in confusion.

"It's been almost three days," Mr. Sir said, "she's a goner for sure. What're we gon' do?" Ricky heard the Warden sigh.

"You'll do as I say," she said, and Ricky heard footsteps. He stepped back out of sight as the Warden exited the office and strode back to her cabin.

"What _did _she say?" Dr. Pendanski asked.

"Not much," Mr. Sir said in a low voice.

"What do we do?"

"You'll do as I say," Mr. Sir ordered, and Ricky heard more footsteps.

"But you didn't say anything _either_," Dr. Pendanski said, following Mr. Sir like a lost puppy. Rick stole around the buildings to the other side of the camp and ran inside D-tent. The boys were all waiting for the verdict.

"The guy in the _Jaguar_ was Stella's lawyer," he sighed. "She's being released." Squid laughed softly.

"Well they're in a tight spot now, huh," he said softly, churning his toothpick, amused that the Warden and Mr. Sir looked so antsy the next time they saw them, on their way to the mess hall for dinner.

It was dark again. Night fell cool around the mountain and it was a welcome change. Stella thought they must have eaten all the onions in the field by now with the size of the eaten-onion piles.

"Hector," she sighed, staring out at the desert. "I'm glad you stole those shoes and threw them at my head."

"What?" Both Zane and Zero dropped their onions. Stella picked the pieces of raw onion out of her teeth with her tongue.

"None of this would have happened," she smiled at them. "When I first got sent to Camp Green Lake, I thought it was because of my family's curse," Stella said, laughing softly, "but we're not even at camp any more. You know, we're on _God's Thumb_."

"Stella," Zero sighed, "I remember my mom singing me a song, like the one you sing all the time…only it's different, though." Stella stared at him, thinking hard. Stella's great-great-grandmother had learned the song from Madame Zeroni, and Madame Zeroni, she had told Sonja, had a son in America. Hector _Zeroni_, Stella thought with a mental gasp. She had carried him up the mountain, he had drunk from the stream, and she had sung the song. Hector Zeroni was a descendent of Madame Zeroni.

"I have this weird feeling," Stella sighed, "that everything's cool."

"Yeah," Zero agreed, "same here."

"You have that feeling too? What about you, Zane?" Stella asked. Zane smiled softly.

"Yeah, I'm cool," he said. "I've got a good friend," he nodded at Zero, "and someone I care about as much as a sister."

"It's a good feeling," Stella smiled, and Zane wrapped his arms around her shoulders, hugging her. They all ate their dinner of onions and fresh water. Zero stared up at the stars.

"You know, those stars look like a shovel to me," Zero said quietly, gesturing up. Stella looked up too and smiled. She sat between probably the great-great-great-grandson of Madame Zeroni, and the great-grandson of Kissin' Kate Barlow, and started to laugh.

"Boys?"

"'Sup?"

Stella began to laugh uncontrollably. "I feel lucky." Zane peered at her to check her sanity.

"The onions have gone to your head," he concluded, and Zero laughed.

"What do you say we dig one more hole?" she asked quietly. The boys exchanged a glance, and Stella illustrated what had happened the day she had found Kissin' Kate Barlow's lipstick tube, the boulder that marked the correct hole, and the Warden's obliviousness to it all. Zane was breathing softly, staring at her the way Ricky did. _Ricky_, Stella sighed. If she had died out here, she wouldn't have been able to apologise to him for slapping him. And if she died out here now, she would never be able to see her mother or grandmother again.

The boys agreed.

They spent the lightest part of nightfall picking onions and filling the canteen, and at the first hint of daylight, Stella was shaking the two boys awake.

Katherine sat by Sam's boat. The lake had dried up completely, leaving the bed cracked and dusty. She leaned against the wood, staring out across the desert. In the distance, she saw a hazy figure sharpen as it strode toward her.

_It's so hot Sam, but I feel so cold_. Sam knelt beside her and smiled his beautiful white, even smile. Katherine smiled and laughed softly, reaching out her hand.

"Sam," she sighed.

"I can fix that," he said quietly, smiling softly. Katherine ran her thumb across Sam's cheek. She heard footsteps, and Sam looked up, as someone loaded a rifle.

"You've got five seconds to tell me where you buried your loot." Trout Walker, old and haggard, pointed a rifle at her. She glanced back to her hand. Sam was gone. Her disappointment was fleeting. She reached for the pistol on her hip and unhooked the safety catch.

"I've been waiting for you Trout," she said angrily, pointing the pistol at him. A woman stood beside him in a torn dress and a ragged hat pinned to her dark, curly red hair. She looked them up and down.

"I ain't gonna kill you," Katherine sighed, and threw the pistol to the woman's feet. She looked at Trout, "Go on," and picked up the gun.

"Where's your loot?" Trout shouted.

"There ain't no loot," Katherine snapped.

"Don't give me that," Trout ordered. "You've robbed every bank from Hell to Houston."

"We saw you heading back with a shovel, _Miss Katherine_," the woman said, and Katherine frowned.

"Linda Miller, is that you?" she laughed.

"I've been Linda _Walker_ for the past thirteen years," Linda said proudly.

"One…"

"Oh, Linda, you were such a good student," Katherine sighed and laughed at Trout. "You must've married him for his money."

"Well it's all gone now," Linda almost shouted.

"Two…"

"It dried up with the lake." She took a steadying breath. "It hasn't rained here since the day they killed Sam. Now you better tell him what he wants; he's a desperate man."

"Three…"

"Go on, kill me," Katherine dared. "The lake goes on for miles."

"I ain't gon' kill you," Trout threatened, his golden tooth glinting in the harsh sun, "but by the time I'm through with you, you're gon' wish you was dead." Katherine laughed quietly, looking out over the desert.

"I've been wishing I was dead for a long time," she sighed. "You, your children, and your children's children will dig for the next one hundred years, and you will never find it." A Yellow Spotted Lizard skittered out of its nest under the boat, and hissed viciously at them.

"Look out!" Linda shouted, and Trout let loose a bullet from his rifle. Katherine turned to the lizard, unafraid.

"Come here sweetheart," she said coaxingly, picking it up round its middle. It squirmed in her hand.

"Start digging, Trout," Katherine said, and offered the lizard her bare arm. Katherine died, laughing softly.

By the time they reached the hole Stella had marked with the boulder, the sun was low in the sky and long shadows were created by the mounds of dirt beside the holes. They ran, low to the ground so they couldn't be detected, and the dirt they kicked up just added to the small hurricane of dirt that always sped across the desert this time of night.

"That's the one," she whispered, aware that sound travelled both ways: They had heard a blend of indistinct voices from the camp.

The sun went down quickly, like a fuse blowing, and darkness descended on them.

"This is the hole?" Zero asked.

"Yeah, I'm positive," Stella said quietly, starting to hack at the bottom of her hole with their shovel.

"It's gonna take too long," Zero said. "I'm gonna get another shovel."

"Are you sure that's wise?" Zane asked. "They bolt the doors to the library shut."

"I'm good at sneaking in and out of places," Zero said confidently.

"Hey, why don't you fill the water jugs?" Stella suggested. They had drunk a lot on the way back. Climbing down the mountain had been as tiring, if not more so, than climbing up it. And she had been carrying Zero half the time.

"Be careful," Zane advised, handing Zero the canteen. Zero nodded and started running. She and Zane took it in turns digging. It was difficult slinging the dirt out of the hole: it was five feet deep even to begin with. So Stella suggested using their effort to widen the hole instead.

"I don't think that Kissin' Kate Barlow would have buried her treasure so deep," Stella reasoned, and Zane agreed.

"Of course, she might've had her whole gang helping her," he pointed out.

"So how do we know they didn't come back and take it?" Stella asked, pausing for breath. Zane shrugged.

"Hey Zane," she said quietly, pausing for longer. "You know you're a Ward of the State," she frowned, but in the dark all she could see was Zane's outline sat on the floor.

"Yeah," he said sadly.

"They destroyed Zero's files because he is too," she said. "They thought they would be able to get away with his death because no one would look for him… And they'll do the same to you; make it seem you don't even exist." She grunted as she hacked at the wall. "Of course, they can't do that for me because of my mom and grandma…Zero says he believes his mother is still alive, and I hope she is."

"But my parents are dead," Zane said in a low voice.

"If there's something buried down here," Stella gasped, "and if we get out of here alive, with the treasure, what would you say if I asked you to come live with me?" There was no answer. "Zane?" She hadn't heard any hisses or the rattle of a snake. "Zane?" Suddenly someone jumped into the hole and flung their arms around her neck. She heard a soft laugh and someone kissed her cheek.

"I think that would be the nicest thing anyone ever asked me," Zane's quiet voice said. He took the shovel and started his turn digging. Stella crawled out of the hole and sat down.

"So I'll take that as a 'Yes'?" she laughed softly.

It was pitch-black when Zero ran back. Not even the stars glittered. The only source of light was the flood lights by the councillors' RVs.

"Whoa!" he gasped. "Man, you guys have been working. I'm sure glad you brought Zane and not Zigzag with you; you'd never've stopped kissing." Stella looked up at Zero in disbelief as Zane laughed softly. The hole had been expanded to twice its diameter and was an uneven depth wavering between five and six feet.

"I'm coming down," Zero warned, and Zane stepped out of the way so Zero could jump into the hole. "How's it going?"

"I could be digging up diamonds and not see them," Stella grunted, heaving dirt out of the hole. "Come on, let's make it wider still." She shaved off a slice of the dirt wall and hacked at it with the tip of the blade. Something echoed dully. Stella heard the slosh of water as Zane put the canteen down in a hurry. Zero stared.

"Did you hear that?" she asked. She picked up her shovel again and forced it into the wall. The same thing echoed. She hacked away at the spot until great chunks of dirt fell to the floor of the hole with a small avalanche of dust. Zane jumped into the hole in excitement and moved the rocks out of the way of their feet. Stella peered at the even blacker hole than the wall. It was very large, with a curved ceiling. Stella poked the blade of her shovel into the void and it connected with something. She stuck her hand inside the hole cautiously and groped around until she felt something cold and hard. It was a metal handle.

"Okay, one…two…three," she gave a sharp tug and whatever it was came shooting out of the hole. It was very large and very heavy. Zero grabbed the other end and they held it up: in the darkness they saw it was an old-fashioned travel trunk.

"Ha ha!" Stella laughed in triumph, "we found it! What did I say?"

"Oh man!" Zane gasped as he looked at the trunk. He stood beside Zero and helped carry it.

Suddenly a flashlight flared, glaring in Stella's eyes. She squinted and put her head down, blocking the light with her hat.

"Thank you boys, you've been a big help," the Warden said.

"What am I- a duck?" Stella snapped out of instinct. She was so used to being grouped with the boys of D-tent that she often retorted this to remind them that she _wasn't_ a boy. The Warden started walking to the steps Zane had carved into the wall of the hole, but stopped with a horrified gasp.

"Holy Crap!" Mr. Sir swore, and the cigarette in his mouth glowed amber. It seemed he had had a rough couple of days. "Get back!"

"Oh my god!" the Warden said gently. The beams from Mr. Sir's and the Warden's flashlights hit the old weathered trunk. And Stella's blood ran cold as she saw what had come skittering out of the hole after the trunk.

Yellow Spotted Lizards.

And they liked to jump. Two landed on Stella's shoulders, one on Zero's stomach and arm, and one jumped up Zane's arm and leg, another resting on his shoulder and stomach.

"Don't move," Zane whispered, like a ventriloquist. They all shook with fear. More lizards crawled all over the trunk.

"Well get in there," the Warden ordered quietly. "Pull it out."

"You get in there," Mr. Sir retorted. He held his pistol in his hand and the flashlight in the other.

"I'll just wait," the Warden decided. "It won't take long." _It won't take long for them to bite us_, Stella thought. She heard footsteps and another beam landed on them.

"Oh my goodness!" Dr. Pendanski had arrived. Whereas Mr. Sir and the Warden were in their pajamas, with boots and jackets thrown on top, Dr. Pendanski was fully-dressed. He had been on watch duty at the water spigot.

"Yeah, check it out," Mr. Sir said. As the flashlight beams hit the lizards, their spots glowed like neon signs. A lizard crawled up Stella's chest, its talons digging into the cloth of her t-shirt, scrabbling over her shoulder and neck. "Here we go!"

"Hey Stella, guess what? You're innocent," Dr. Pendanski said. "Your lawyer came by yesterday to get you." _I don't have a lawyer_. "Too bad you weren't there."

"Don't listen to him Stella," the boys whispered.

"At least now we'll have a body to give him," Mr. Sir said, and Stella glared at the trunk because of the tone of amusement he used.

"What about the others?"

"Zero and Zane were never here," the Warden said. "We've got plenty of holes to choose from. Do you know how long I've been waiting for this… My granddaddy owned the whole lake, then it dried up. He drove himself crazy out here diggin' holes. Made me dig too, even on Christmas."

The sun rose gradually. Stella saw it splash light onto the side of the hole where Zero and his lizards sat. Zane sat beside him, still in the shade. The lizards don't like the sun; they moved down Zero's body to his legs. The Warden frowned, pacing with Mr. Sir. "Maybe we should just shoot 'em."

"The lizards or the kids?" Dr. Pendanski asked.

"You don't wanna shoot into them lizards, they'll start leaping all over the place," Mr. Sir advised. He had gone through what Stella estimated as a carton of cigarettes already.

"I just don't understand why they haven't been bitten yet," the Warden frowned. Stella heard a strange, smooth noise.

"Oh crap!" Mr. Sir swore.

"Oh for Pete's sake that can't be him already!" the Warden said in exasperation.

"It ain't the Girl Scouts selling cookies," Mr. Sir growled.

"All right, keep holding the boys in the rec room," the Warden ordered, "and keep 'em quiet. Tell 'em that as long as they keep their mouths shut they won't have to dig any more holes, but if they do talk, they'll be severely punished."

"What shall I tell 'em we're gonna do to 'em if they _do_ talk?" Dr. Pendanski asked eagerly.

"Use your imagination," the Warden said in an annoyed tone. "Well go on!" They saw Dr. Pendanski walk away, and heard him running, and then they heard a choked yell and the sound of someone falling into a large hole. Stella's body shook with suppressed laughter, as did the boys'.

"I just don't get it," Mr. Sir said of the fact none of the children had been bitten. "Nothin' makes sense around here anymore."

"Stella," Zero whispered.

"What?"

"Is your last name H-A-R-G-R-O-V-E?" Zero spelled out.

"Yeah," Stella said quietly. He and Zane exchanged a meaningful look.

Soon they heard unfamiliar voices coupled with Dr. Pendanski.

"We wanted to call, but the phone-lines go down out here sometimes," Dr. Pendanski was saying.

"Well you should've tried harder," a thick New York accented man said. "You can always reach me."

"We did," Dr. Pendanski said. "We tried several times."

"Don't go no further," Mr. Sir said loudly. "Danger."

"Where's Stella?" the man asked.

"I'll tell yeh," the Warden said, striding out of their view. "She broke into my cabin about an hour ago, I wake up and saw her running out with my trunk, I don't know what the _hell_ she was thinking."

"I witnessed it myself councillor," Dr. Pendanski said. "Don't go too close." Someone appeared in their line of vision again, accompanied by the Warden, Dr. Pendanski, and two men in sharp business suits, ties and cowboy hats. The man in the centre, with dark hair and eyebrows, gasped.

"Oh my god!"

"Don't move!" the taller, older gentleman with a striped U.S.A tie said. He spoke with the most pronounced Texan accent Stella had ever heard. It was more pronounced than Squid's. "How long have they been down there?"

"Have you tried to get them out?" the heavy eyebrowed man asked.

"Well just what do you suggest we do, councillor?" the Warden asked.

"Well this wouldn't have happened if you had released her to me_ yesterday_," the man said.

"Excuse me, it wouldn't have happened if she weren't a thief," the Warden retorted.

"Why didn't you release her when he came to see you yesterday?" the older Texan asked.

"She didn't have proper authorization," the Warden said.

"I had a court order," the man objected.

"It wasn't authenticated," the Warden snapped.

"Authenticated?" the New Yorker repeated. "It was signed by the judge who sentenced her."

"I needed authentication from the Attorney General," the Warden said. "How do I know it's legitimate? The boys in my custody have proven themselves to be dangerous to society." Stella snorted.

"Boys?" the New Yorker and the Texan asked at the same time.

"Sir?" Zane said quietly, trying not to dislodge any of his lizards. "This here is an all-boy's camp. Stella was the first girl ever to be admitted here, and she's been here for three months without anyone calling the court's bluff." The New Yorker just raised his eyebrows and turned to the Warden. There was a shocked silence for almost a minute.

"And Stella didn't steal anything," Zero shouted suddenly. Stella stood up, the lizards slinking down into the shade. She climbed out of the hole and Zane followed. The group of adults all backed away as the lizards jumped off their bodies. Zero heaved the chest out of the hole and up their steps, groaning at the trunk's heavy weight.

"Thank God!" the Warden said, running to him. "Thank God you're okay!"

"What're you doing?" Zero asked, frowning, as the Warden tried to take the trunk from him. "What're you doing- It's Stella's."

"I've caught you all red-handed," the Warden said. "I could send Stella and Zane back to prison if I press charges, however in view of all the circumstances I think I'll just _take it_," she tugged at the chest but Zero fought back. Zane strode around the hole to Zero and helped him.

"It has her name on it," Zane shouted viciously as the Warden tried to scrape Zero's hands off the trunk with her sharp nails.

"What?" the Warden said. "No it doesn't-"

"LET GO!" Zane shouted, and the Warden glanced down.

"See!" Zero said, as Stella walked over to them. He nodded at a thin plate on the front of the trunk by the lock. "Stel-lu Har-grove."

"He can't read," Dr. Pendanski said in shock.

"Oh my god!" the Warden gasped, and Stella saw too that a thin metal plate had her name stamped into it. "That's not possible."

The second man, who didn't wear a suit jacket, took the trunk from Zero and carried it. The Warden, Mr. Sir and Dr. Pendanski were ordered back to the camp by the tall Texan, who was the Attorney General, the chief law enforcement officer in all of Texas, and Stella's lawyer, Mr. Gallagher, walked with the A.G. and his assistant. Stella, Zero and Zane walked ahead of them all, carrying their shovel, canteen, and bag full of onions.

"Hey boys," Stella said quietly, a smile widening on her face. "I'll race you." Zane and Hector exchanged a glance: the shovel, canteen and bag of onions were dropped as they all began sprinting as fast as they could go, dodging holes and whooping with glee, leaving the grown ups quite in awe of the behavior of the people out on Camp Green Lake. They reached the camp compound and Stella made it to the chemists wall first, smacking her palm against it.

Three months ago, she had hated running. Three months ago she had been overweight and unhappy. Three months ago she had had no friends and was an only child. Three months ago her family was poor.

A lot can happen in twelve weeks.


	14. Chapter 14

The adults followed in their cars, watching the Warden, Mr. Sir and Dr. Pendanski closely as they shepherded them back to the camp.

"Get your hands back," Mr. Gallagher said, "come on, get your hands back."

"No! I have to look inside," the Warden said, fighting Mr. Gallagher to get to the trunk, which had been safely stowed in the back of his _Jaguar_ as Stella's property.

"Get your hands off!" Mr. Gallagher warned.

"This is mine! It was on _my _property," the Warden insisted. The Attorney General's assistant sighed in impatience. Mr. Gallagher and the Warden were squabbling.

"Stella, come on, put your things in your trunk, your mother is waiting, _let's go_," Mr. Gallagher said. Stella looked behind her. Zane and Hector both looked at her sadly, with big puppy-dog eyes.

"I can't leave without Zane or Hector," she said clearly.

"We'll be okay," Zero insisted.

"Stella, there is nothing that I can do for your friends," Mr. Gallagher sighed. _Oh yeah?_

"Don't worry," Dr. Pendanski said creeping an arm around Zero's shoulder. "We'll take good care of Zane and Hector." Zero frowned and Zane pulled him away from Dr. Pendanski roughly by the arm of his jumpsuit, glaring dangerously. Stella looked between them.

"I'm not leaving here without them," Stella said in a no-nonsense voice.

"Earl," Mr. Gallagher said, and the Attorney General stepped forward. "Would you please get me Hector's and Zane's files?"

"Certainly Andrew," the Attorney General said. "Ms. Walker- well?" Stella enjoyed seeing the Warden squirm.

"Get me the files of Zane Barlow and Hector Zeroni," the Warden said in a trembling voice. Stella nudged Zane and nodded to Dr. Pendanski. His eyes had widened. "Jus' do it!" Dr. Pendanski hurried into the office and Stella heard a door open behind them. Down the other end of the building, the door of the rec room had been opened. Someone strode outside, saw them, and did a double take. Alan stared, then yanked the door open, shouting into the rec room, "They're alive!" D-tent emptied out of the rec room before the other boys. Squid was the first one to reach Stella and flung his arms around her waist tightly, hugging the last breath out of her, spinning her around in glee.

"I can't believe you guys made it!" Squid beamed.

"We thought you were buzzard food!" Zigzag smiled.

"I'm not- I'm going home," Stella smiled.

"Going home?" the boys repeated, and more than one face fell. Stella's gaze went particularly to Ricky. He would know where to find her.

"Man you stink!" Armpit chuckled pushing Stella and Zane away playfully. "What've you guys been _eating_?"

"You smell like onions," Magnet laughed, and the boys all laughed too. They heard footsteps on the porch and Dr. Pendanski came back to the Attorney General, followed by a suspiciously shifty Mr. Sir.

"Well…there seem to be no files of Zane Barlow or Hector Zeroni," Dr. Pendanski said. He didn't know what else to do.

"What?" Armpit asked.

"Is that so?" Mr. Gallagher glared at the Warden, Ms. Walker. The Attorney General folded his arms across his chest and glared at Ms. Walker too.

"What kind've a camp are you running here?" he asked.

"A nice one," Ms. Walker said. The boys all sniggered. "If the state would give us some money, then we'd have some decent filing."

"I'm ordering an investigation of this facility," the Attorney General declared.

"What?" the Warden turned in disbelief.

"Sir," Theodore said to Mr. Gallagher, "do you have a pen and paper I can borrow?" Mr. Gallagher raised his arms and shrugged.

"No, I don't," he said, nodding to Mr. Sir, "but it looks like he does." Mr. Sir pointed to himself, "yeah, you got a pen?"

"Yeah," Mr. Sir growled, straightening his jacket collar to hide his face, handing Mr. Gallagher his pencil.

"You got paper?" Mr. Gallagher asked. Mr. Sir handed him his clipboard and hid his face again. Mr. Gallagher handed Armpit the clipboard. "Here."

"Thanks," Theodore said, and he scrawled something on the corner of a piece of lined paper and handed it to Stella. "Hey call my Mom for me," he said. "Tell her I'm sorry. Tell her _Theodore_ said he was sorry."

"I will," Stella smiled. "And you boys-" she took the clipboard and copied her address six times, ripping them up and handing each copy to the D-tent boys, "had better come visit me. And that means you too Ricky." She gave him a meaningful look.

"Marion Seville," the Attorney General's assistant said, folding his round sunglasses into his breast pocket. Mr. Sir had turned away from the group and he stopped still as the man stepped onto the porch and walked over to him.

"Oh crap," they heard him mutter.

"It's been a long time since El Paso old Marion." The man forced Mr. Sir against the office wall with his hands out. "You're in violation of your parole, carrying this weapon." He took Mr. Sir's pistol from its holster.

"Well I had _no_ knowledge of _that_," Ms. Walker declared.

"Oh yeah," Mr. Sir grumbled, "jus' like you didn't know Pendanski wasn't no doctor neither."

"What?" The boys all laughed at Dr, or Mr. Pendanski's frown of disapproval.

"Sit down Marion, you're under arrest again," the man said, forcing Mr. Sir to sit down on the bench beside the office door.

"Marion?" Ricky said, slipping an arm around Stella's waist. "Say, I didn't know that was a _man_'s name." The boys all laughed.

"It ain't," Mr. Sir grumbled.

"Oooh," the boys laughed. The Attorney General finished his phone call.

"Okay, this facility is now under our jurisdiction," he announced.

"What?" the Warden said.

"Boys, put these three bozos over there," he said, gesturing to the bench, "let them see the other side of the Texas criminal justice system."

"Excuse me?" They all cheered a little too loudly!

"Come on boys, you're coming with us," Mr. Gallagher said, gesturing to Zane and Hector. "Let's go."

"What?" Alan stepped forward with a hopeless lost-puppy expression, tripping after Stella. "They get to go too?" Stella put her hands on Alan's shoulders.

"Alan, when you get outta here, you come find me," she said seriously, "and I'll have my grandma straighten your mom out. If not, you can always sneak in an' sleep on the couch." Squid grinned.

A bolt of lightening lit the sky at the same time as they all jumped violently due to a loud thunderclap. Everyone turned to the sky, past the porch ceiling, where storm clouds were rolling in above the weather vein and water tower.

"What's that?" X-Ray asked, as they all turned to see the violent grey clouds rolling in.

And then it started raining. The boys gasped and raised their hands to the heavens as the clouds emptied their contents, cold droplets that drenched through their jumpsuits in seconds. Stella put her things in the trunk of Mr. Gallagher's trunk and the boys did the same, and stepped out into the rain without her hat, beaming up at the sky as the water soaked through her. The boys all ran out from under the shelter. Squid took his hat off and smoothed his hair back as the rain soaked through it, Zigzag started doing a funky dance, Armpit bounced around, Handsome Rob and Zane and Wrench had taken their shirts off and were yelling hoarsely. Stella jumped around in inexplicable happiness. Alan spun Hector around on his back and laughed as they stumbled, and Ricky came up to Stella, his normally buoyant and uncontrollable blonde hair plastered to his face and neck.

"Your shirt's going see-through," he shouted over the rain, but Stella just laughed. He put an arm around her shoulder and kissed her. Stella, standing in the rain, had never felt so comfortable. She laughed and slung her arm around Ricky's neck as he kissed her passionately.

"Stella! Zane! Hector! Come on, let's go!" Mr. Gallagher called, hunching his shoulders as he ran to the driver's seat of the _Jaguar_. Zane and Hector ran over with their things, which had been salvaged from D-tent by Squid, who never gave up hope that they would return, and Stella put her hand on the trunk.

"Stella," Ms. Walker stepped down from the porch with a pleading expression, "Stella, won't you just open it? Just let me see what's inside, please."

"Excuse me?" she said, closing the trunk door with a tut.

"Stella," X-Ray called her over, shaking her hand. "You be careful out there in the real world. Everyone's not as nice as us."

"All right boss," Stella grinned, as Hector and Brian jumped around like jack-in-the-box's.

Soaking wet and laughing uncontrollably, Zane, Hector, and Stella slid into the back seat of Mr. Gallagher's _Jaguar_. Stella rolled the window and shouted to the boys.

"D-TENT!" The boys all turned to wave at her, grinning and jumping around like great goons! As Mr. Gallagher drove off, Twitch started twitching and Squid had to wrap his arms around him and haul him off the ground to keep him running after them. The sun shone brightly but the rain clouds never quit.

Zane had lugged the trunk up several flights of stairs to Stella's apartment, following Mr. Gallagher and Stella. Zero walked behind them, grinning from ear to ear like a Cheshire Cat. Mr. Gallagher had explained on the drive home that Stella's mother had invented the cure for foot-odor, and had made herself a very rich woman within days of her patenting it. She had mentioned Stella's case to him and he had done some digging. Stella squeezed Zero's hand as he mentioned several witnesses had seen someone stop driving past her the day Clyde Livingston's shoes had been stolen at 4:30 and dump some green drinks on her before driving off. Clyde Livingston's had been stolen at 3:50 at the other side of town, near the mall in the neighboring town. Mr. Gallagher knocked on the door and Stella's mother answered it.

Sandy opened the door abruptly to find Mr. Gallagher on her doorstep with three other people, two older teenagers, one boy and one girl, and a small boy. All wore orange jumpsuits and all stunk of onions. She frowned, and then she discerned a sharp, pretty button nose from the girl's totally unrecognizable face.

"Oh my God! Stella? Is that you? Ma- Ma, come quick," Sandy shouted over her shoulder, and she heard her mother harrumphing from her bedroom. She thundered to the front door.

"Where is she? Where's my grandbaby?" Ma asked. Sandy just stared as the pretty blonde girl smiled and waved slightly. The two boys, one tall, muscular and blonde, and the other small and black with tightly-curled hair, moved out of the way.

"Oh my God! Honey, what have they had you doing? You are so skinny," Sandy gasped, and Ma pulled Stella over the threshold into a hug.

Stella had changed. She was no longer the pudgy, unhappy and self-conscious sixteen-year-old who got bullied at school. She was lovely: Tall and slender, she stood above Sandy and her mother, and rivaled the height of the good-looking blonde boy. Her hair had been cut short and bubbly curls bounced around her chin under her worn cowboy hat. She wore a t-shirt with the arms ripped off and the arms of her jumpsuit tied around her waist, heavy black boots tied on her narrow feet and a thin black-and-red bracelet around her wrist.

"Hi Momma," she said softly, when her grandma released her.

"Oh we have missed you _so much_," Sandy cried, hugging her daughter tightly. She let her go and Stella straightened up proudly. Sandy glanced at the boys still standing in the doorway quietly.

"Ma'am, I should return to my office," Mr. Gallagher said. "I'm expecting a call from the Attorney General with regard to your daughter's camp mates."

"Well, come on boys, come in," Sandy smiled encouragingly. "Mr. Gallagher, thank you so much!" Mr. Gallagher smiled and nodded and excused himself. The blonde boy hauled something off of the floor and carried it inside with a groan.

"What've you got there?" Ma asked suspiciously.

"Grandma, this is Zane Barlow," Stella ruffled the blonde boy's wavy blonde hair, "and this is Hector Zeroni."

"Did you just say Zeroni?" Ma asked.

"Sure did," Hector said.

"Ah!" Ma exclaimed, bending and kissing Hector's cheeks.

"Momma, we had to dig a hole every day," Stella began, "and last night when we got back to the campsite after we found Zero," she nodded to Hector, "we dug another hole and found Kissin' Kate Barlow's treasure. Look at the name on the trunk." Zane carefully placed the dirty trunk onto the dining table. Sandy put her glasses on and peered at the metal plate: Stella Hargrove.

"Oh my goodness!" Ma gasped softly. "It's my mother's chest. She used to talk about it. Kissin' Kate Barlow took it when she shot my daddy."

"How 'bout we open it," Stella suggested quietly, smiling softly. Sandy got her bolt-croppers and safety glasses.

"Okay, one more thing," she said conditionally. "No matter what is in this box, we are still family."

"We are the Hargroves! We know!" her mother said excitedly. Sandy glanced at the bolt-croppers and handed them to Stella. She took them with a grin and Zane held the trunk steady.

"Cross your fingers," Stella advised, and they counted down.

"One…two…three," Stella clenched the arms of the lock-cropper together and the lock split.

"Oh my god! Honey, you are so strong," Sandy laughed, and Stella pulled the leather straps that held the trunk together off, then gently pulled the lid off and back on its hinges.

Jewels and pearls, studded-gold cups and plates, brooches, necklaces, earrings, glittered in the apartment light. There had been an unpredicted storm and rain thrashed against the windows.

"Wow!" they all gasped and whispers.

"Oh my goodness!" Sandy reached into the trunk and pulled out a book.

"Let me see that," Ma sighed, and Sandy handed it to her, pulling out loose leafs of elaborately decorated paper.

"Okay, guys, guys, hold on," Stella said loudly, putting things back in the trunk, "before we do anything, I think it only fair that half this goes to one of my best-friends, Hector Zeroni." Sandy glanced up. But Zane was smiling at Stella with his arm around her shoulders.

"You wanna go halvsies?" Sandy said, "well," she shrugged, "that seems fair to me. What about you Zane?" Zane looked almost like a trapped animal under her gaze.

"Momma, I was thinking," Stella said, and Ma groaned softly. "Zane's parents died and he has nobody else."

"You want him to stay with us," Sandy smiled. "Of course he can stay, you too Hector." Hector beamed. His mouth seemed too big for his face when he smiled.

"Is that really worth 25,000?" Ma asked, staring at the first page of a thick wad of stocks in Sandy's hand.

"AT&T," Sandy read.

"Wait, check the date," Zane advised. He and Stella took a page and peered closely at the small, paled writing.

"1905," Stella read out finally.

"What's it worth honey?" Sandy asked.

"Well it's worth _a lot _more now," Zane said, shrugging. "Millions, at least."

"Millions!" The word resounded through the apartment strung with stinky old sneakers and bad wallpapering. Sandy took the pile of papers.

"One for us, one for Mr. Zeroni," she said, grinning. "One for us, _one for Mr. Zeroni_." The boy's face was jubilant.

"Now you can finally hire that squad of private detectives to find your mother," Stella grinned, hugging Hector. Zane chuckled and hugged them both.


End file.
